


Magic Tricks and Nightmares

by Mirudoki



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: A LOT of Angst, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Original Species, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Portals, also bullies, but not really, high school is mean man, practically an isekai in an isekai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 47,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25972018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mirudoki/pseuds/Mirudoki
Summary: Luz, a not so ordinary girl, wakes up back in her old home after being on the Boiling Isle for a month and a half.After observing her surroundings and familiar faces that aren't quite the same, she comes to the obvious conclusion:Something here isn't right, but Luz won't rest if she doesn't find a way to fix this.---Now with a discord server! Join for Updates, Official art and a friendly group of people that have a similar taste in fandoms!https://discord.gg/BQfz3vHmtd
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Camilia Noceda & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & King, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne/Camilia Noceda, Gus & Luz Noceda, Gus & Willow (The Owl House), King & Luz Noceda, Luz Noceda & Willow
Comments: 171
Kudos: 366





	1. Wake up little kitten

**Author's Note:**

> I'll make the chapters as long as I feel is good so please don't ask me to make them longer, I'll also try to keep a consistent update schedule. 
> 
> Updates every Sunday! :)

Luz woke up as the rays of sunshine hit her face. She rubbed her eyes as she heard birds sing. The sound made her smile. It sounded so peaceful.  
  
“...hold on a minute, I haven’t heard normal birds ever since…”  
  
She quickly threw her covers off and ran to the window, falling after tripping on her phone cable. Quickly getting up again, she gazed outside and saw her old neighbourhood. The same trees, same street, same house. It looked exactly like- 

“No, no, no! What!? I- I’m back home! But what about the Boiling Isle and- and my friends? What about magic school!? When did I even go _back_? Summer isn’t over yet, I still have a month and a half till I have to go back!”  
  
She quickly began pacing around her room, slowly spiraling into a panic attack. She was starting to tear up at the whole situation, she wasn’t ready to let them go and she didn’t even say goodbye! They were her first real friends in years! And what about-  
  
A knock startled her and interrupted her train of thoughts. A familiar voice that she didn’t even think about hearing again grasped her attention.  
  
“Hey kiddo, time to wake up! It’s already 7 am and breakfast is ready, so come downstairs!” 

That… That couldn’t have been Eda… right? This is the human world, so Eda should be on the Boiling Isle… but… but her voice sounded exactly like she remembered! Luz put her favourite cat hoodie along with a pair of short jeans on and slowly made her way downstairs. As she took the last step, a black fur ball jumped at her, the momentum making her wobble a bit. 

“King! Come back here, bud! You know how Luz is after she wakes up…” 

‘King’ was a tiny black dog with white fur on his head. The breed was hard to guess since he looked like a tiny husky. He looked so much like the King that she knows, but… this little buddy is just a dog, not the tiny cute Demon King she got to know. He jumped off of Luz’s arms and ran back to Eda, and while all of this seemed weird for the teenage girl, her mother was just smiling while sipping coffee from a mug that said ‘ _Best Mom #1_ ’.

“Good morning Mija, how did you sleep?” She asked with a small smile on her face, as if Luz was supposed to be there! But… while she did miss her friends, she also missed her mother. She was glad to be able to talk with her again.  
  
“I- uh… slept well, thanks for asking, Mami. What about you?” 

Her mother looked confused for a second but then took another sip.  
  
“Dormí bien, gracias por preguntar, cariño...” Luz glanced at Eda, which looked much… younger than before. Her hair was ginger and she had less wrinkles. 

Camilia spoke up again. “...Are you okay, Luz? You know that you can talk to us, right? Whatever may be on your mind, you can share that with us, Mija.” She stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked concerned, it reminded Luz of the day she was supposed to go to summer camp. Luz was thinking about telling her mother about what she’s experienced, but decided against it. Who knows what she would think! Maybe that she’s crazy? It’s just, she would never believe her if she told her that she ended up in another dimension with witches in which she learned how to cast magic! 

“I… know Mami, and I’m alright, just having a weird feeling of déjà vu.” Luz smiled, trying to reassure her mother that she was fine. 

“Well then, if you say so Mija… anyways, are you excited for your first day of school? You should have a much easier time making friends now! Going to that camp really did you good, cariño. I’m glad that we had that talk together. I was so happy that you understood that you had to tone your creativity down at school, but could always release your creativity at home. Oh you grow so fast, I still remember when you were just a baby…”

Eda smiles with affection and puts a hand on Camilia’s shoulder. “Cami, she’s still 14, just wait and see once she’s an adult! Ah they do grow so fast indeed…” she dramatically wipes away a tear. “You’re a big kid now, Kiddo. I hope your first day goes smoothly, this year.”

Luz blinked a few times, Eda seemed so… _smitten_ , with her mother. Something was fishy, and it was not her tuna sandwich. It was like she stepped into a different universe! It was already suspicious that Eda was in her house, but King was a dog and Eda looked so different, so something is definitely going on. She will have to go along with this for now, until she figures a solution to this. 

“Thank you.” 

Luz sat down at the table and ate breakfast with her mother and Eda. The table was all set already, with some orange juice and toasts with strawberry marmalade on tiny plates. It was strangely homey, as if they do this every morning. As everyone finished the first and most important meal of the day, she went back upstairs and got her school bag from her room. She let the bag hang from one of her shoulders as she went back downstairs. Her mother and Eda were already good to go, so they all put their shoes on and walked outside. 

“I’ll go wait for the bus, then. Have a good day at work, Mami! Love you.”  
  
“Ah Luz! Eda will drive you to school today, I forgot to tell you that. Her new workplace is near your school so we thought it was better if you go with her. Have a good day at school, Mija. Te amo, cariño.” Camilia kissed Luz’s forehead and left to work.

Eda was the last one to leave the house and she locked it behind her. She looked like she worked somewhere fancy, with that suit. 

“Well then, Kiddo! I’m sure you want the front seat. Put your bag in the back and we’re ready to go.” 

Luz stared dumbfounded for a few seconds, then did as told. She took a seat next to Eda. The older woman turned the radio on to fill in on the silence since Luz usually didn’t talk on car rides. Luz has been acting off since she woke up. She was worried that Luz might have had a bad night’s sleep due to stress and didn’t want to admit it, but they couldn’t do anything if she didn’t want to talk about it. Eda took a quick glance at Luz to see what she was doing. She was watching the scenery from the window to her right. After around 10 minutes,they could see the school coming closer to view. Luz thought that Eda was a surprisingly careful driver, for her personality. She parked the car like a professional. Wowza, the skill.

Luz got out of the car along with Eda. She parked in a private parking lot, near a store that said “The Owls Jewels” along with some drawings of necklaces and rings. She assumed that it was a Jewelry store based on the wares seen from the outside and that Eda worked there. Even if this was a different universe, the owl theme would always stay an Eda thing. That’s a reassuring fact.  
  
“Welp, I’m off to work. Don’t try to get into any trouble, got it? Have a good day, kid.” Eda ruffles her hair gently, before walking into the store. Since Luz was alone now, all she could do was go to school.

She couldn’t stop thinking about this bizarre situation, how was Eda here and why was she acting so casual? Why didn’t she remember going back? After all, she remembered that summer was definitely not over, but now she had to go back to school? And King was an actual dog now, not the tiny cute demon King that could talk and that would joke with her… but that brought up another question. If Eda and King are here does that mean that Willow, Gus and-

“Ugh watch where you’re going, nitwit!” complained a very familiar voice that belonged to someone that she thought that she’d never see again as Luz accidentally bumped into her. She could probably cry tears of joy because in front of her was...  
  
“Amity?”

Said girl was looking her up and down with a frown, oblivious to Luz’s inner turmoil. She looked almost the same, her hair had the same colors, she even had the same eyes! Except they were more hazel than yellow but if Luz isn’t mistaken, then-

“Noceda. Didn’t change at all, I see. Pay more attention to your surroundings and don’t bump into me again, I don’t want to be late to school because of you.”

“...huh?” 

Amity left without saying anything else, leaving Luz alone once again. What was that? She acted so… different from the usual. She didn’t have that cute blush and she looked upset when she was talking to Luz. As if she didn’t want to. That was so weird, why wouldn’t she want to be around her? They were friends now, weren’t they? After all that relationship development, to go back to square one seemed so strange… but that wasn’t the only strange thing. Luz stood there, blinking, without knowing how to feel about any of this.  
  
Because the strangest thing about Amity was not that she was here.  
  
The strangest thing about this Amity? The thing that stood out the most was that Amity had _round_ ears, instead of her pointed ones. _Human_ ears, which meant that this Amity was not a witch, but a human like Luz. That was surreal, almost impossible in her mind for Amity to have round ears. She wasn’t born on earth, she didn’t have human parents, and she certainly did not live here!

But she was here anyways, and the worst thing is that she didn’t remember Luz at all. Well, not Luz, but their friendship. Because if Amity was a human then they never bonded over ' _The good witch Azula_ ' or over fighting monsters. It meant they never made the secret book club where they would actually doodle and get to know each other better instead of getting any reading done.

It meant they never danced together at Grom.

For some reason, that one little unwanted thought was the one that hurt most. Her dance with Amity was magical, they were synchronized in both magic and dancing at that time and it felt amazing. It was enchanting. 

Luz frowns slightly as she continues to walk to school, this time trying to pay more attention to where she’s walking. The only thing that’s normal today is the layout of the streets and the surrounding houses. Even her Mom wasn’t quite the same, after all. When did Luz get her that ' _Best Mom #1_ ' mug? She remembers her christmas mug, but the other one was new. And apparently Eda and King lived with them now, which was kinda weird, but the day wasn’t over and you should never say never. If Amity was here, then there is a big chance that Willow and Gus are also here. Maybe they’re friends! They did bond rather quickly, so maybe they won’t act as weird.

As she continued to walk, she saw other students that looked a lot like the ones at Hexside, just without pointy ears or extra eyes. They looked… strangely ‘normal’, more humane than what she remembered. She was pretty sure that Boscha just passed by, but she wasn’t sure because her third eye was gone. That looked so strange to her. How could she ever get used to this?

She was getting closer to the entrance. Was she ready for today? Luz didn’t know at all, but she could hope. The school was looming over her, with shadows cast over her since the sun was behind it. It looked more intimidating than usual, but Luz swallowed audibly and opened the door.

This was not going to be easy.


	2. Just because you're conscious doesn't mean you're awake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betrayals and tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay! It was due to personal reasons, I expect that y'all understand <3
> 
> Updates every sunday.

Luz was pulling the door towards herself, trying to open it. She was frowning as it wasn’t working at all, maybe she had to shove? She remembered that the doors were meant to be pulled open last year, were they changed? She was abruptly pushed away to the side with a kick to the back of her legs and was then shoved to the ground by someone else. 

“Oh my god, are you that dumb that you can’t even open a door properly, Luz-er?” 

Mattholomule was standing over her, looking down with a mean smirk. He looked just the same, stupid way with his dumb face. Such a shame that his personality didn’t change. Two other students that she didn’t recognize were behind him, the one on the left holding his bag and the one on the right holding his breakfast. They were quietly laughing at her, with amused looks on their faces.

“What? Won’t even answer me? Well you don’t have to, guess you lost all your brain cells in the summer vacations. Tsk.”

He pushed the door open and left, his two lackeys following suit. Luz curses this wicked world. Somehow, that jerk's personality is worse? Since Amity doesn’t like her anymore, is there a chance that Willow and Gus won’t either? What even is going on at this point? It’s been what, an hour? And everything was the worst possible outcome.

Luz shook her head. She had to think in a positive way! Eda and King, even if different, still have a good relationship with her! So there is a chance that her two friends were still befriended with her. She stood up and entered the door with a determined smile.

The inside of the school looked very different from the usual, it was more of a… mix. Yeah, that’s about it. There was the main hallway, which was strangely bare. Then there was a big plaza-like room where a lot of students were hanging out, chatting with some friends. Lockers were all around the walls, a little bit of flowers and a tree in the middle of the room, with some benches on the side. There were nine other hallways, seven with doors, probably the classrooms and two of them had only one door at the end, the library and the cafeteria if she had to guess. Everything was redesigned, but to have done everything in three months? Luz had never thought it would be possible.

She looked around the room to see the students that were already there. She didn’t see anyone from her previous year, only Hexside students that looked too much like humans for her liking. Luz saw Willow and Gus talking with each other, Gus leading the conversation. She was about to skip over to them, but she stopped in her tracks.

She _supposedly_ went to summer camp, which meant she couldn’t act like she would normally. Because then the principal would call her mother to talk about her behaviour, her mom would find out she never actually went there and then she would have to explain where she was and what she did all summer long! Oh _god_ she never did think about the consequences, did she? She can’t let her mother find out that she went to another world where magic was a thing! 

Luz decided to walk a bit slower and less energetic than what she’d like, but she supposed that it did the trick. Willow and Gus turned to her with confused looks and as Luz waved a tiny bit, they waved back. That’s progress! ...Probably. 

“Hey, uhm. I didn’t know that you waved at people you don’t know, Luz.”

Willow looked at Gus with a look that clearly said ‘I don’t know what to do’. Gus looked back at her with a shrug.

“Well uhm. I thought… that it would be nice if we could be friends? I just- I noticed that I only do things by myself and maybe having a friend or two would be nice and you two are nice people from what I heard… so u-uh…” Totally nailed it, Luz! Let’s go! That sounds like a normal teenage girl that actually doesn’t have friends in a human world, right? 

“Oh! Yeah sure why not! New year, new you, right? I think we should give her a chance, Willow. I noticed that she was acting less exaggerated than last year and they already pick on us, so would it really make a difference?” 

“I suppose not… it’s decided. We can be friends, then. Just… don’t do the weird eye thing again, okay? O-or bring insects to school, they’re scary. _Especially_ ladybugs! They’re so tiny and come in swarms-”

Luz put her hands on Willow’s shoulders, as a reassuring act. Well at least she hoped it was.

“It’s okay, I won’t bring any insects to school, promise. And ladybugs are a big no-no. Gotcha. And thank you for accepting!”

She flashed a thumbs-up to Willow, along with a smile. Willow visibly calmed down and looked better overall. Huh, it really did work! Guess who's on a roll, woohoo! Who thought that trying to be friends with your friends from another universe? Another world? Who didn’t remember you at all would be so easy! Luz could’ve jumped in the air from the joy that she was feeling, but decided to do it in her own mind. Y’know, to seem more ‘normal’.

“U-um, Luz? Could you let go, please? I still like to have some personal space…”

“Oh of course! Sorry, haha…”

She put her hands off of Willow’s shoulders and back to her own side. What does she have to do now? It’s not like she can magically make them remember their time on the Boiling Isle, can she? Does magic even work? Huh she would have to test that one out. After all, if a magic door can show up out of nowhere then she can make small light balls appear. Maybe she could go to the library to get some answers, maybe a secret book or something…

Gus and Willow looked less uncomfortable now that her intentions were clear, so they started chatting about school for a while. Mostly about their classes and some teachers that they liked or disliked. Luz just assumed that the teachers were the ones that she had at Hexside, since she didn’t see anyone from the human world except her mom. Willow told them that she didn’t like chemistry, but really liked biology. She started gushing about the times when they studied the cells of plants. Gus was a big fan of the after school theatre club, he was currently telling them about some musicals he liked that inspired him to go to theatre last year. The warning bell rang as Gus was telling them about his favourite play, he ran off with a ‘see ya later, alligator’ due to him having math instead of english like Willow and Luz.

The next few classes were boring, but luckily neither Boscha or Mattholomule were there. They had to pay attention to the teachers and weren’t allowed to talk at all. Luz wasn’t actually paying attention, but she tried to at least somewhat follow what was going on. She was thinking of where to go next. The library should be a good place to start… probably search for a book about being in an alternate universe, or a dimension theory book, or maybe even a book about curses? 

Time was passing by fast, they were being dismissed by their teacher to go to lunch. Luz was packing up her things and looked over at Willow. Apparently, being friends meant that she was waiting for Luz to be finished, it brought a smile on her face. Gus also showed up at the door and was waving at them. Luz happily waved back and started walking with Willow and Gus to the cafeteria. They were chatting about their day until now. It seemed that Boscha was in Gus’ class, but didn’t bother him at all. Luz was wondering about today's lunch menu.

“I’m just saying. The lunch in movies always looks so disgusting, it looks like they didn’t even try to cook something edible! You never know what you can expect. Maybe one day the lunch lady will try to pull that move one day for revenge of all the students complaining and I’m sure that I don’t want to witness that!”

Luz was moving her hand to emphasize her point.

“I tell you, man. She always looked at me with that unimpressed stare last year.”

“Well I think you’re just overthinking at this point, and you’re talking about those bad american movies anyways Luz, if this was an anime then you’d probably just stare at the food and think ‘how can something this perfect exist?’. It makes me sad that I can’t cook anything that looks half as good at those.” 

Gus sighs dreamily and mutters something about ‘that food is too good to be real…’

Willow rolls her eyes jokingly. 

“Well then you’re lucky that this is neither a movie or an anime, because we can eat something perfectly acceptable in hygiene standards that actually looks fine. It’s…” she squints to see the menu on the wall. “...boiled potatoes, carrots and peas with fish sticks. Yeah sounds fine to me!” 

They continued to talk while waiting for their turn to get their lunch. Willow was the first out of the three to receive her portions, so she went ahead to get them a table. Not much later and Luz and Gus got their lunch too, they were on their way to Willow when a foot made Luz fall. Her tray was knocked out of her hands and her lunch spilled on the floor. Boscha was laughing along with some other girls at the show. It should’ve been humiliating, but Luz stood up and just shrugged.

“I’m going to the bathroom to clean up, be right back.”

Boscha looked confused at her reaction, but didn’t follow her. She rolled her eyes and began gossiping to her ‘friends’. What Luz didn’t see was a pair of hazel eyes that kept critically following her movements until she was out of sight. 

There were two girls chatting and looking on their phone in the bathroom, probably because the teachers don’t go into the students bathrooms to check if they’re using their phones or not. They didn’t even bother looking at Luz as she was cleaning up. She was lucky that it was boiled potatoes and not porridge, now that would be hard to get off. She quickly dried herself with a paper towel and hastily walked back to the cafeteria. 

Willow and Gus were waiting for her at a table near the exit and she was surprised that there was a third tray with food on it next to Willow. 

“We obviously saw what happened, and we didn’t want you to stay with an empty stomach, so I asked the lunch lady for another tray. She just shrugged and gave it to me.”

Both of them smile and show a thumbs up. Luz was so happy to be friends with them! 

“Aw thank you so much, guys! I really appreciate it. I don’t think that anybody ever did such a nice thing for me…”

She sat down in front of her tray and her happiness turned to hurt and confusion. 

“...Why… does it look like you picked it up from the ground?”

Laughter was coming from the table next to them. Gus looked down with a guilty look on his face while Willow didn’t look ashamed at all. Luz was pretty sure that some students from the other tables were laughing at her, saying something along the lines of ‘wow she really believed that they were her friends’ and ‘can you blame her though? She’s such a loner, she probably never had friends in her whole life, what a loser.’ 

Luz was searching for something on Willow’s face, maybe regret, possibly a confirmation that no, what the others were saying wasn’t true and yes, they were actual friends. But none came. She was left with the saddening realization that they were never her friends at all and that it was all an elaborate prank. She shoved the tray away, stood up without looking back and left the cafeteria. Nobody would get the satisfaction from seeing her cry. 

She decided to go to the library to find answers to her actual problem. After all, she has to focus on the more important things, like going back to her actual world. If it’s even possible, but she can’t just give up! There is still a chance that everything can go back to her old life and not stay as this- this abhorrent mess. What happened in the cafeteria could’ve never happened on the Boiling Isle, her friends wouldn’t do that to her. They had genuine connections and moments of true friendship! They wouldn’t betray her like that. They also wouldn’t give her food from the ground for a prank. 

The halls were empty and the library was as well, good for Luz then. She didn’t need anybody to slow her down. The faster she goes home, the better. She greeted the man at the counter with a nod and went to search for possible books that could help her out. She was wandering around shelves trying to find a category that would at least make sense, like, maybe a book about different universes that wasn’t just fiction.

“What are you looking for, Noceda? A book on how to make actual friends?”

Amity spoke with disinterest instead of actual malice. She was looking at her nails and then looked at Luz.

“It’s none of your business. Leave me alone.”   
  
Luz turned around and wanted to leave, but Amity grabbed her right arm to stop her.

“Sorry, didn’t mean it that way. It’s kinda a habit by now, and I didn’t mean to make you feel worse.”

“Well, instead of rubbing salt in the wound, how about you leave me alone?” 

She really couldn’t keep looking at Amity, and the situation reminded her of their library accident on the Boiling Isle. 

“What if I don’t want to leave you alone?”

“Weird, I recall that you told me to leave you alone just this morning and now you pull a one-eighty? Sounds suspicious to me, Blight. You want to ‘befriend’ me and then pull a prank on me? I bet it’s all Boscha’s plan or something, who knows. You’re friends with her, right? Just- just leave me alone, please. I’m not in the mood.”

Luz tried to pull away but Amity kept on holding on. Why was she so _stubborn_?

“No! No- it’s not a plan. And you’ve been acting so different from last year, it made me curious. What happened to you? You also never went to the library, so that’s also weird. And you looked both lost and as if you were searching for something, so I thought you might want some help.”

“Haha! Yeah sure. Okay, I’ll tell you. Nothing can get worse than this, can it? Nobody will believe you anyways. So sit down because this story will knock you off your feet.”

Amity, who was still holding Luz’s arm, moved her hand to hold Luz's. She was leading them to a small chill area where they could sit.

“I was supposed to go to a summer camp to correct my behaviour, but there was this weird owl that stole my ‘The good witch Azura’ book and I tried to get it back. The owl flew into an old looking house with this glowing door and I followed it of course, what else could I do? Turns out it was a portal to another dimension where witchcraft is a thing, and it was very cool, and I really wanted to stay there because why wouldn’t I? Summer camp sounded boring and dumb, learning how to do magic? Now that’s a deal for me. So there was this Owl lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Aisle, who took me as an apprentice as long as I helped her out with her business, which was selling human trash. I had to help her carry the trash she found and sort it out, which buffed up my arms quite a bit. She wanted to teach me magic, but witches apparently have a magic sack next to their heart that lets them do magic-”

Luz took a breath and kept going.

“-but I didn’t have that, so I had to learn a different way. The lady said that I should observe the nature around me to learn magic like the witches from many many years ago did. At first I thought that it wouldn't work, turns out it does though! I mean, I learned light magic from my broken phone, actually. Also ice magic and how to make plants and also fire magic- It’s getting off topic, sorry. Anyways, I still had around one and a half months till I had to go back, but now it’s already the first day of school. Any questions?”

Amity was staring, mouth agape, and just blinked a few times before softly saying ‘Luz, what the actual hell.’

“Wait- and how does that have anything to do with you searching for a book?”

“Oh I think I’m in a different universe, or I was cursed? I mean everything is very weird to me right now, I have no recollection of the past month and I don’t remember going back to my home…”

Luz looked away from Amity’s piercing gaze. What’s wrong now?

“That’s not it. There’s something else that you’re not telling me.”

“Do I have to? It’s already crazy enough, right? Don’t need to add to-”

“Do I look like I care if it’s crazy? It obviously made you change your behaviour, and it’s kinda pathetic to watch you look depressed. So, spill it, Noceda. We don’t have all day.”

Amity looks determined to know more, she really didn't look like she cared about what Luz said.

“...It’s just… everyone here reminds me of my time on the Boiling Isle. Willow and Gus were my friends there, but they just- they fed me to the wolves here, It felt surreal but also extremely painful. And yeah Boscha and Mattholomule are kinda the same, but _you_ -”

Luz quickly covered her mouth, afraid that she’d say more than she intended to if she took them away. Amity was looking at her with something in her eyes, mostly confusion.

“Me? What about me? Answer Luz! What were you going to say?”

“You… well- we were friends… and I think you had a crush on me, It felt like it was obvious but I didn’t want to do anything about it because I would’ve had to go back to my home and I don’t think that there was a way to communicate and I’m pretty sure that chance to find the door again would be pretty slim and I didn’t want to make the goodbye hurt more- so I- I don’t know. I’m sorry, I just want to go back.”

Amity suddenly pulled her into a hug and started rubbing her back in a soothing manner.

“It’s okay, It must be very hard for you. Let it all out, nobody is here but me. We’re alone.”

Luz cried silently in Amity’s arms, it felt like an eternity, but the whole conversation lasted about ten minutes. No bells were ringing, nobody was making any sounds.

It was just Luz and Amity.


	3. Reality can be a nightmare when you least expect it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not everything is what it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hah yeah! This post is on time. go me.
> 
> updates every sunday! and sometimes other days of the week. Like today.

Amity wasn’t usually the physically affectionate type. Well, she usually wasn’t affectionate at all, but listening to Luz tell her what’s on her mind made Amity feel bad for her. It did sound crazy. In fact, so crazy, that Luz was _right_. Nobody would believe her if she told them about this. 

She didn’t know why she hugged Luz, she was so sure that she despised her. Hell, probably even hated her. So why? Where did this sudden feeling of fondness come from? Was it because Luz told her that she was in love with her in this different universe? Or did she just feel bad for her? 

The soft crying coming from Luz reminded her of the few rules that she promised to never ever break.

Rule one, never get attached to someone. Kids of higher status aren’t good friend material, but the kids that are good friend material can’t be friends with her. So she should never get attached, to spare her feelings.

Rule two, stay away from Luz. She’s the school clown, the laughing stock for everyone to enjoy. She would probably bring drama into her life and that would mess everything up. Amity’s tranquil life would be over.

Rule three, never disobey her parents. They have their own set of rules and Amity can only shiver at the memory of what happened when she disobeyed them once. 

She was confused, she would’ve never broken her rules and she was doing a good job at it. She was sassy and mean with her comebacks and she never smiled, to be more unappealing to people around her. Nobody would’ve tried to befriend her if she acted like that and it _worked_ , except her parents wanted her to be friends with their client’s daughters. 

God how she despised them.

Even being friends with Luz and the consequences that would come with it couldn’t be as bad as being friends with Boscha, but her parents demanded it. And she knows rule three by heart, so she complies. Honestly she understood why Luz didn’t have any friends, she acted too excited over the little things. She also did weird things, like bringing those snakes to school, or the spider incident. But she seemed happy, not caring about other people's opinion. Amity wondered if Luz ever felt alone like she did. 

They were similar in that aspect, they didn’t have any real friends.

She began drawing circles on Luz’s back for comfort, but still feeling weird at the close embrace. 

“I-I just want to go back, please, please, _please_ just take me back. I miss them so much, everything was going so well. Please just take me back. I was so happy. Why did it have to end? I don’t understand why things are like this now, did I do something? What did I do to deserve this? Just take me back, please, please… I feel so alone, I never understood how it was. P-please… I just want my old life back.”

Luz was breathing heavily, tears falling down her cheeks and onto Amity.

“Hey, I’m sure that whatever is going on isn’t your fault. Life just… isn’t fair, you know? Things often don’t go as planned, but… you can remember the good time you had in that place, right? You still got the memories… Just… don’t give up?” 

She really wasn’t good at reassuring people, but maybe it was enough for now. This really isn’t her element, why did she think that helping Luz would be a good idea?

Amity saw a flash from her left, she turned her head and saw Willow holding her phone. She had a look of brief panic over her face when she noticed Amity looking at her and then ran away. Amity was in shock for a second but then released the hug to stand up and run after Willow. Why did she take a picture? Amity can’t let anyone see it! It could ruin everything for her!

What she didn’t notice was that she pushed Luz a bit harder than intended, and left without a word. Not even a ‘sorry’ or an ‘I’ll be right back’. Amity left without looking back, but if she had, then she would have seen Luz looking hurt and dejected.

Amity was running after Willow, easily catching up to her and yanking her phone from her hands. Willow fell on the ground while Amity was looming over her.

“What were you going to do with the picture? Tell me the truth or _else_ …”

She gripped the phone tighter.

“I- I didn’t want to! I swear, Amity! Boscha told me to go after you because she noticed that you got up without finishing your lunch a-and-”

“You think that I would believe such a weak excuse? Boscha never cared if I got up without telling her, she usually just assumes that I’m going to the bathroom. So, Willow. The truth and make it quick, I don’t have all day.”

Amity was straight up glaring at Willow. Too many things depended on the picture and she didn’t want to risk any of those, so the explanation better be good.

“...Boscha noticed that you were staring at Luz all day and thought that something was going on between the two of you, she promised to stop picking on me and Gus if I follow you and she’d let me hang out with her once if I take a picture of you two doing something together…”

“That’s the reason? What the… I can’t believe you stooped so low and for what? Do you think Boscha would actually stop picking on you? I’ll just delete the picture, you can tell Boscha that I didn’t even go near Luz. You know... for what’s worth it, Luz thought you were her friend, but I guess it’s better to have none than be friends with you. I mean, I don’t really care about her. I hate her! But even I can tell that what you did was stupid.”

A slow clap resonated from Amity’s right, along with a dry laugh.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be glad that Willow won’t have to tell me anything, right Amity? Huh, who thought that you’d be into that nerd weirdo. Guess you both are alike in that aspect, you book worm. Willow, you can go. Now, _Amity_ … let’s see what I’ll do with you. I still have a bone to pick with that Luz-er and you… you got close to her. You’re the perfect candidate to really break that loner into tiny pieces. Make her cry until she doesn’t want to come to school anymore.”

Boscha was smirking, it looked vicious and filled with malice. She was looking down at Amity, expecting her to just go along with her plans.

“What the… You’re mad if you think I’ll just go along with that? Don’t you think you’re taking things too far, Boscha? You already did enough with Willow and Gus, right?”

“Oh _Amity_ , dear, little, sweet Amity. You remember what Luz did last year, yes? Standing up to me and then ruining my clothes with my own coffee just because I was putting some weaklings in their place. So I’m going to make her regret ever crossing my path. I’m the queen of the school, the rugby captain. You’re my right hand woman, Amity. You wouldn't disappoint me like that, would you? _Right_ , Amity?”

Amity looked uncomfortable, she didn’t want to really actively hurt anyone, just keep people away. And yeah Luz was weird but not mean. She didn’t deserve more salt in her wounds. Wasn’t the prank at lunch enough? _Would_ it ever be enough for Boscha?

“Guess I’ll just have to tell your parents about you… well, not really being into boys. But it’s your choice, Amity. Protect yourself or you weirdo ‘friend’”

Boscha looked like she won the lottery, but Amity looked like everything was crumbling around her. She felt terrible, but can she even risk her parents finding out?

“I- okay. Okay, just don’t tell them please. You… know how they are.”

“Aww Amity… no need to cry, it’s not like Luz is that important, right? I won’t tell your parents as long as you help me out with that loser. Deal?”

“...d-deal…”

They shook hands and Boscha grabbed Amity’s arm and pulled her close.

“...that doesn’t mean I won’t tell the whole school, Amity. You should really know better before making a deal with someone. Should’ve asked for the details. I’m going to absolutely ruin your school reputation for not agreeing right off the bat.”

Amity gasped in shock and trembled gently, please someone wake her up from this nightmare.

“No, no please Boscha, please don’t do that, I-I’ll do anything just don’t tell anybody about that, please!”

Boscha pushed Amity away and made a fake sad face.

“Oh boo hoo. You’re really pathetic, y’know? Begging for me not to tell anyone, and what’s gonna stop me? Nothing. Honestly you should know better, Amity. I already told you that I won’t tell your parents, isn’t that enough?”

Amity shook her head in disagreement.

“Please, it’s something extremely personal. Don’t do it, please I beg you Boscha!”

“Tsk. I’ll make sure your parents won’t know about it, but that’s the only favour I’m doing for you. Now, I’ll tell you my plan and you’re going to listen, got it? You’re going to get closer to Luz, closer than Willow and that nerd got.”

Boscha smirked again, showing her pearly white teeth.

“You’re going to break her heart.”

“...excuse me, what?”

“You heard me! You’re going to make her fall in love with you, then you’re going to brutally break her heart in front of everyone. Or… well in private, whatever you think would hurt more. Hmm yeah... “

She was starting to brainstorm ways to possibly make Amity reject Luz, going on about Luz being a whiny baby that’ll be easy to bring to tears. It was honestly sickening to hear all that.

Willow was eavesdropping on Boscha and Amity. She didn’t want to leave after the whole fiasco and Amity’s words were still fresh on her mind. She didn’t really feel that bad before, she’s been friends with Gus for a few years and she wanted to help him out since he shares a lot of classes with Boscha and Mattholomule. 

After hearing Boscha’s plan to emotionally harm Luz, she decided to go warn the girl. She snuck off to the library, searching for Luz. She was looking around for a book, but didn’t really seem herself. She looked a bit sad.

“Luz! Hey, I came to t-”

“Shut up, please. I don’t want to talk with you”

Luz turned around, having a feeling of deja vu. While Willow didn’t grab her arm to stop her, she still followed Luz.

“Luz, please listen! I know that what I did was wrong, but I’m here to warn you, Boscha wants to use Amity to hurt you for standing up to her last year, so-”

She was cut off by a rather sad laughing.

“Oh please, Boscha doesn’t need Amity to hurt me. Just leave me alone, and things should be good, okay? I’m just searching for a book, I don’t need more drama.”

Willow didn’t continue to follow Luz anymore, but she swore she heard her mumble ‘what kind of sick joke is this…’ under her breath. Seeing Luz like this made Willow feel guilty, but she probably deserved the feeling. Amity was right, Boscha wouldn’t just stop picking on them for doing her this small favour. 

She was practically back at square one, everything was like last year, but it was somehow worse. She didn’t want things to come down to this, she only wanted to help Gus and herself. Boscha somehow knew that she had two dads, and used it as leverage against her last year. She wonders how Luz’s home life is, she’s so overly cheery and excited that it feels kinda fake. Now that she thinks about it, Luz never talked about her parents. They only saw her mother coming to get her, but it wasn’t that often.

Willow looked to the direction where Luz walked away and decided that she’s going to fix this. Luz was only kind to her from the moment they started to talk and she heartlessly backstabbed her.

She’s going to stand up to Boscha, even if she’ll get laughed at because of it.

To make things right instead of worse, for the person that actually deserves it.

The warning bell rang and everyone had to go back to class. Willow didn’t share anymore classes with Luz, but she did with Amity. Honestly, she looked like she didn’t want to be there at all, make-up a bit smudged. Her eyes were downcast and a bit red, and Willow didn’t know why since she left to go and find Luz. 

The rest of the day went by without problems. They got reminded to do their school work and to be careful on the way home. Willow packed her stuff and went outside, waiting for her dad to pick her up. She noticed that Luz was passing by, also looking kinda down. Willow’s father was waving at her with a friendly smile and some pastries from her favourite bakery. She went home with her dad, a feeling of worry taking place on her heart.

Luz was holding a note that said ‘sorry kiddo, you’ll have to walk home bc I have a late shift today, love you <3 get home safe’. She walked past some houses next to the school, feeling a sense of longing. It reminded her of the Boiling Isle. If everything here is almost the same, then she should be near the town’s local markets. She continued to walk and found out that she was right. She looked around the market, not surprised to find vegetables and other wares. She walked past a little playground, smiling at the little kids playing.

That’s when the houses started to be less frequent. Luz was nearing a forest. Luckily it’s the same one she saw on the car ride. She continued to walk until she saw a river, where she spotted a fox. 

Luz started to spring once she realized that she was nearing home. Her only hope for comfort after her day at school. King was waiting for her at the front door and once he spotted her, he jumped in her arms.

At least not everything was at it’s worst, she still had her family after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I... really don't know how to feel about any of this. Can't I take a break?"
> 
> "Oh, bebe. The next chapter is your break, I swear. I know you weren't feeling well enough to make a tiny outro-"
> 
> "Yeah and I appreciate that you didn't push me to do it."
> 
> "-of course I wouldn't, and I'm glad you're feeling a tiny bit better. Emotional hurt can be hard to overcome, but you're strong Luz. By the way, thank you for reading this chapter of 'Magic Tricks and Nightmares'! Stay tuned for next weeks chapter. Toodles!"


	4. The calm before the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh I really have a hard time writing fluff, luckily I used the experience I have from hanging out with my parents (and prompts)
> 
> Updates every sunday and possibly a random day of the week!

Luz took her keys out and opened the door while holding King like a baby with her left arm. She sighed, put him down and then walked upstairs to put her bag down. Her phone went off and a generic ringtone began playing. Startled, Luz went to answer it immediately without checking who called. 

“Hello? This is Luz, who are you?”

“Kid! Dang it Luz, you had me worried! Where are you? I’ve been waiting for fifteen minutes and you’re still not out of school. Did something come up and you have to stay?”

“Eda? Uh... no, I’m at home? You put a note in my bag, saying that you’re working a longer shift at work so you won’t be able to give me a ride home. Was I supposed to go to the shop after school?”

“A note? Luz, I didn’t put a note in your bag, nor do I work a longer shift. Mondays are always from seven-thirty am till four pm, I’m waiting in front of your school to pick you up. It could’ve been a prank from your classmates, some of them _have_ always been vicious with their pranks and nonsense… but I can’t just shove this under the rug since it could be something more worrying than just a silly prank. Stay where you are, I’m coming home. See you soon Luz, be there in five minutes.”

Eda hung up without letting Luz say bye. Luz decided to wait on her bed, thinking about the note and what Eda said. If she recalls, Amity got close to her but not to her bag. And how would her classmates have known that Eda would’ve been her ride home? It also didn’t make sense if it was a prank. Her classmates surely would’ve done something on her way home instead of leaving her alone.

The situation was suspicious to Luz, just what exactly was going on? 

She saw King running at her with his tiny paws, ready to show her some affection. He jumped on her lap and started licking her face. Luz couldn’t keep frowning and started to laugh.

“Haha- no! King, s-stohOp! _Mercy_!”

King didn’t stop licking her face until she was tearing up from laughing. He probably noticed that she was sad when she arrived and tried to cheer her up. It worked fairly well, actually. She started to calm down and gently fell back on her bed while smiling and patting King. It was very relaxing. She stayed like that until Eda came. King heard the door open before Luz did and rushed downstairs. She followed suit and saw Eda standing at the door, a frown on her face. They made eye contact and Eda embraced Luz in a hug.

“Oh Kid… I was so worried when I didn’t see you. I’m glad you’re okay, Luz. That’s the most important thing right now. You weren’t answering your phone at first, I was about to call the police.”

Luz broke away from the hug and looked sheepishly to the side. She started slightly fidgeting with her fingers. 

“I uh… kinda forgot my phone at home? It was charging and… I’m sorry, Eda! I promise that I’ll remember to always bring a phone with me from now on.”

Eda put her hands on Luz’s shoulder.

“It’s okay kiddo, things like that happen sometimes. It’s not like you did it on purpose, yeah? So you’re fine, Luz. How about I make some hot chocolate while you prepare King’s dinner? We’ll talk about the letter, maybe also about your day at school. Sounds good?”

“Yeah! Thank you Eda, I’ll go do that right now.”

Luz was skipping towards the kitchen in search of King’s food. She realized that she did not know where it was and started looking around the cabinets while humming a random song. She saw Eda getting lactose free milk from the corner of her eye and smiled. Her Mami often forgot to use her special milk while making hot chocolate or milkshakes, so it made Luz happy that Eda paid attention. 

“Ah, Luz. Cami moved the treats to that other cabinet. King climbed to the shelves yesterday, so we put them somewhere higher.”

Eda pointed to a shelf over her and went back to making their hot chocolate. Luz nodded and thanked her. She grabbed the treats and went to refill King’s bowl. Luz quickly put the treat bag back and went back to her room to get the letter. When she was back on the ground floor, she saw Eda holding a cup of hot chocolate while sitting at the table in the living room. A steaming mug was next to her in front of an empty chair. Luz saw that Eda was patting the seat, so she complied. She put the letter on the table and sat there, taking a sip from the hot chocolate. It was a tiny bit bitter, but also sweet.

“So… how was school? Any teachers that make you want to fall asleep?”

“Let me think, uh... my english teacher was a bit boring. She has this way of speaking that makes you wonder why she’s a teacher, instead of making ASMR videos on MewTube titled like ‘ASMR video to help you sleep’. I bet that if I’ll have a sleepless night, she’d totally make me fall asleep in the first five minutes!”

They both laughed at that. Eda even wiped a tear away! Luz had to put her mug down to spare her drink from spilling.

“Ah you always know how to crack me up, kid. Anything interesting happened at school?”

Luz stopped laughing as she remembered the rest of her day. Suddenly, she wasn’t in the mood to joke around anymore.

“Uh, _no_. No, nothing interesting happened at school. Just a normal day. At school. Yes.”

“Luz… We already told you before, but I’ll gladly tell you again. You can tell us, me and Cami, everything. We won’t judge you and we’ll try to help you, got it?”

She was biting her lip. Should she tell Eda? Eda can be trusted, she’s like her second mother anyways. 

“Well… uh, it didn’t really start out good, Mattholomule kinda kicked me in front of the door and Boscha got Willow and Gus to pull a prank on me, then Amity hugged me and pushed me away right after and I really don’t know what’s up with today. I just… it’s already the first day of school, I can only hope that this was the worst and that the rest of the year will be chill, you know? I was hoping to make some friends, but it didn’t… really work.”

Luz put her mug down and exhaled. Eda put an arm around her shoulder and side hugged her.

“Oh kid… they’re not worth your tears, okay? They don’t know what they’re missing out on. You’re such a sweet kid, Luz. They’re totally jealous of you, and you’re in high school now, those types of people suck anyways, right? The stereotypical petty popular girls that only hurt others for fun? Not worth your time, kiddo.”

“I just- I… thanks, Eda. You’re right. I do want to have friends, but it’s better to have no friends than have some like them.”

She finished her drink, put it down and hugged Eda. It brought comfort to her, knowing that she wasn’t truly alone. 

“Ah you’re making me go soft, but I don’t mind. Just don’t go around telling people that, okay?”

“Of course, I promise!”

Luz broke the hug and flashed a thumbs up. 

“Anyways, now that we talked about that, can you pass me the note? I need to see if I can recognize the writing. And… hm, what do you think about baking a cake? We could make one after I’m finished with this, then we can eat it for movie night. You can go and prepare everything that we need and I’ll come right after to help you out, sounds good?”

She nodded in excitement and passed the tiny letter to Eda, quickly running to the kitchen to put the bowls and ingredients out. She could still hear Eda from where she was. At first it was only Eda humming in concentration, but then she was sure that Eda gasped in surprise. 

“This… is almost identical to my own writing, except the ‘i’s. The writer made tiny circles as a dot instead of it being a filled out dot. Whoever made this, tried really hard to imitate it. I’ll have to tell Cami about this… ”

Luz heard the rustling of paper, Eda probably put the note in a pocket. She heard Eda’s signature heels come closer until she was right next to her.

“Okay kid, we’ll be baking the most awesome cake you’ve ever tasted. I’m sure this will be very entertaining, but first things first. Safety measures, did you take out the gloves for when we’ll have to put the cake in?”

“Yes, Ma’am! I’m also aware that we should do less chaos than possible, because otherwise Mami will be mad that we made a mess out of the kitchen.”

Eda nodded while smiling.

“Smart kid. Now, let’s get started! First of all the batter. We need like four eggs, but separated…”

They mixed the dough in around ten minutes, with only minimal damage to the kitchen! Luz was really proud of herself for that. They then put the batter in the oven. After she put the timer to 45 minutes, they both decided to play a card game.

Luz was absolutely winning against Eda at UNO, when they heard the front door open.

“Estoy en casa, Mija, Eda! I smell something good coming from the kitchen. Did you two bake a cake while I was at work, mis queridas?”

“Mami! ¡Bienvenida a casa! We’re baking a chocolate cake. How was work?”

She and King both ran at her mother, Luz planning to swoop in for a hug while King barked for head pats. Her mother hugged her back with one arm as she hung her jacket on a clothes hanger.

“Today was a calmer day, Mija. Not many patients, that’s good. I’m always glad when we don’t have much work, it means people are being less careless. How was your day, cariño?”

Luz broke away from the hug and looked to the side.

“Kinda boring, Mami. I had more fun at home! And-”

The alarm from the kitchen rang, which meant the cake should be ready.

“Ah! I’ll go get the cake out of the oven, be right back!”

Luz ran to the kitchen and focused on the cake, being careful to not burn her hands. She put the now finished cake on a flat plate to let it cool down. She turned around to exit the room and saw her mother giving Eda a quick peck on the lips.

Huh. She should’ve expected that, honestly. Well she was happy that her mother found someone good to be with. Eda was a great person, so she supported them. They were being very cute, it made her smile.

“Well the cake is finished, so all we have to do now is wait! Eda said that we can eat the cake while we watch a movie, but my question is… drum roll please… Is it going to be disney?”

Her jazz hands made Eda snort and her mother cover her mouth, trying not to laugh.

“O-of course, Mija. Would you like to watch Coco? I remember you said you wanted to go to the cinema to watch it, but our local one didn’t air it. I bought the blue-ray DVD yesterday, as a surprise.”

Her Mami smiled at her and she swore that she literally had stars in her eyes. 

“Yes, yes, yes! ¡Muchas gracias, mami! I love you so much!”

Luz hugged her mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She was so excited! 

“Well then kid, I’ll go to prepare the plates, you put the movie on. Cami, you should rest, okay?”

“Okay, mi amor.”

Her Mother gave her the DVD, so she turned the TV on and prepared everything. By the time that she was done, Eda came back with three plates of chocolate cake. She turned the lights off and they all snuggled on the couch under a blanket. Luz was in the middle, her mother and Eda sitting on her left and her right each. Luz fell asleep just before the movie ended, feeling safe and comfortable.

**_Oh, little kitten. Things have only begun, this is far from over. Enjoy your small bubble of comfort._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Aw, they're so cute when they're sleeping. No screaming children, no headaches. Welp, next on 'Magic Tricks 'n' Nightmares! You're getting plot, have fun! Toodles :)"
> 
> \---  
> spanish translations brought to you by me! *jazz hands*
> 
> "Estoy en casa" = "I'm home"
> 
> "mis queridas" = "my darlings" 
> 
> "¡Bienvenida a casa!" = "Welcome home!"
> 
> "¡Muchas gracias!" = "Thank you so much"


	5. Failure of a witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a change of perspective is sometimes needed to get the bigger picture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! If you're reading this then thanks for making it until chapter 5 very patient reader! <3
> 
> Updates every sunday 100% and sometimes on other days

Lilith entered the Owl House, pulling the hood that was covering her face down. She saw her student talking with her younger sister, two other kids and a pet listening along.

“Okay, so King will go after Luz’s scent. We’ll have to follow that since we don’t know where they’re keeping her. Gus, your main job is to hide us with any means possible. Willow, your job is to protect us along with Eda if push comes to shove and a fight begins. I will somewhat guide you through the castle since Miss Lilith showed me almost the whole castle and she’ll be distracting the Emperor; she can’t actively help us. Does anyone have another idea?”

Her sister - who was wearing a scarf, for some reason - rubbed her chin as she spoke.

“We need to somewhat know where we’re going. Where would they keep Luz? The dungeons? Lily said that they took her to the castle; she’s probably not at the Conformatorium. She did say that the Emperor was interested in how a _human_ can do magic... “

“The Emperor told me that he brought the human to the towers himself, to be certain that they wouldn’t escape. No other witch is allowed to go up there except him. Edalyn, don’t forget that you agreed to join the Emperor's coven once we get your… human back.”

The children turned to look at her, while Edalyn stood up.

“Lily- I know. How long have you been here?”

“Long enough to know your plan. I would be ready for our departure, I’ll wait for you to finish.”

“We were just revising. You can go ahead to cause less suspicion, sister.” 

Lilith nodded and left the owl house, the other following her outside. She swung her staff and sat on it, opting for the quickest way back. She knew that Eda and her little group would stay low and walk over there. 

The ride was a bit long - Edalyn lived quite far away from the castle - but she started to see her destination. Lilith had to get off her staff at the bridge as a safety measure. She had to let Kikimora know that she was back. The bridge extended and she hastily walked to the other side. She quickly greeted her higher up and started searching for the Emperor, not actually knowing where he was. Lilith had to walk around for a good amount of time before she saw him; this is when he likes to take a little walk around the halls. He walked with power and pride towards her.

“Ah, Lilith. I see that you’ve come back empty handed; _again_ may I add. It’s been around a month and a half since you accepted to bring the Owl Lady to me, so. Where is she? The day of unity is almost upon us and you know that all wild witches have to be brought to the castle before that day; the other teams already brought their task to an end. You will be stripped of your rank and will become a covenless witch if you fail one more time, and I’m sure you know what happens to covenless witches.”

“Emperor Belos,” Lilith bowed down as a greeting, “I will bring you my sister, the only reason why I’m resulting in failure is because of that damned house demon. It’s one of - if not the most - vicious creatures I’ve ever encountered. It keeps defeating my troops with no effort and gives me great troubles. That demon is incredibly fast too, it can dodge my attacks with no issues at all. I just don’t know how to get around it, your majesty.” 

The emperor was silent for a moment, then sighed slowly.

“I made you head of the Emperor’s coven for a reason, Lilith. Are you telling me that a mere house demon is the reason that you can’t finish your task?”

She gasped a little, realizing the subtext.

“No, no. Of course not, Emperor Belos. It’s just that I have to fight against my sister and that demon, which is a lot for only one witch. It’s two against one and four coven members aren’t going to make a big difference, your majesty.”

“...Very well, I shall give you more coven members to assist you. I expect results, Lilith. This will be the last time that I condone your failure.”

The Emperor was already walking away with that notice, but Lilith saw her sister look at the hallway. 

“Ah, Your Majesty! I wanted to ask something. How exactly will the healing for the curse proceed?”

He turned back to her, letting the group of intruders pass by without being spotted.

“She will be taken to a chamber in the dungeons, to make sure that she won’t go on a rampage and hurt anybody. The curse could act up during the healing and letting her lose on a simple witch would be too dangerous. Then I’ll begin the healing.”

“That sounds promising… Thank you, your majesty. I’ll be on my way then, have a pleasant walk.”

“...Likewise.”

He resumed his walk and left Lilith behind; her only hope was that Edalyn and those students would stay safe from being discovered. 

She turned her back and walked away.

Eda was leading the group, staying near King and watching over the kids. King found a trace of Luz’s smell almost immediately. They were following it without any complications until Amity said that this is a part of the castle that she’s never been to. They assumed that the towers were near and became more aware of any possible guards. Getting caught here could result in a petrification, the worst possible punishment for anyone on the Boiling Isle. They were nearing a staircase that only led upwards. 

“I’m afraid that you’re not allowed to go there, Owl Lady, children. I suppose that I won’t need your sister to bring you here if you came willingly. Children, I suggest that you go back to your homes now; wouldn’t want you to get hurt now, would we?”

Eda moved to stand between the Emperor and the group of four while taking her staff out.

“Willow, I need you to listen to me. Take King, Gus and Amity up to the tower and find Luz. I’ll hold him off. Go!”

“Miss Eda-”

“I said go! You don’t have much time!”

Eda saw Willow take King in her arms and run off with Gus and Amity from the corner of her eye. She focused back on her enemy. Hands grabbed her ankles from the ground itself, she used some explosion magic to make them conbust and give her momentum to attack the Emperor. A few circles in the air were all it took to wrap him up in owls, but he freed himself without much effort.

“So you want to play. _Fine_. Let’s play a little.”

Belos flicked his wrist slightly - a wide spell circle looming above them. Eda gaped as an enormous worm-like creature leapt out, hundreds of thin sharp fangs protruding outwards ready to consume any living thing in its path. Her heart was racing at the raw display of power and quickly responded with a gigantic owl from the floor to stop it from eating her. He used some telekinetic magic to shove her against a wall and her back collided with the bricks. A crack could be heard from her spine. Eda recovered quickly and sent five owls to strike him, but he dodged with grace and ease. She focused on the spikes that Belos summoned from the ground and used them as leverage to jump at him. She paid attention to what he was doing with his staff. She may be powerful, but Belos was the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isle. An explosion pushed her back a lot; she used a protection spell to keep her from actual damage. Eda was already panting, but he looked like he could go on for hours. 

She could feel the curse weightning her down, she didn’t have much magic left to fight. Belos looked down at her as he stormed her with attacks, she fought back until her vision went black.

“I’m sorry kid… I won’t be able to see you again after all.” 

Willow was panting as she ran over the stairs with her friends, she could see a door at the top. They were almost there, then they only needed to get Luz out of here and go home. She threw the door open and froze when she noticed that the only thing in the room was smoke and a lone mirror.

Luz wasn’t in this room; but her scent was. King said that it ended here.

“ _Guesstss_? Beloss ssaid that only he would come vissit good, ol’ me. Or could it be… that you are intruderss?”

The smoke came together in the middle of the somewhat tiny room to form the figure of a creature that resembled a person. 

“My name is Magisster Erroriss and my tassk iss to protect this mirror with my life, sso you will have to defeat me firsst before getting to the ssacred relic!”

Magister created hands and imp like creatures from the smoke. Amity created a few abominations to counter them.

“Willow, we don’t have time for this! Use some plants to tie them up or something!”

“On it!”

Willow tried to summon thorny vines to stop Magister from making more minions, but they were passing through them and dispersing some smoke. As if they couldn’t touch them at all. The abominations were only helping them by holding the imps away. A vine accidentally hit the shiny, golden mirror; making Magister go into a rampage.

“The mirror sshall not be touched! You do not dare to harm the mirror! You do not know the conssequences of your actionss!”

Magister shrieked in horror and grabbed them once they noticed that Gus got too close. They shoved the four of them to the wall. 

“You will have to sstay there until Beloss arrives. Dissrespect to the relic iss bound to have a harssh punisshment.”

They were sweating as they realized that they couldn’t do anything anymore. All they could do was wait until the inevitable came. They heard a monstrous cry echo from the bottom of the staircase; slow and steady footsteps following suit.

“Magister. I see that you’ve taken care of the intruders as expected.”

“Of coursse, Beloss. They were going to harm the preciouss relic.”

“Hmm, is that so? I’ll give an appropriate punishment later. If you’ll excuse me, I have to see whether the owl lady was brought into the dungeons. The children will have to go home for now and I’ll inform their parents.”

Amity was glaring at the Emperor, angered that he took Luz away from both her home, Hexside and her friends, even possessing the audacity to treat them like this after what he’d done. Willow was shaking and crying loudly whilst Gus was silently shedding a few tears, in shock from hearing what the Emperor said. Emperor Belos snapped his fingers - sick of the wailing coming from the children - and they all found themselves in their respective homes, courtesy of his. 

“I swear, children are insufferable sometimes. And Magister? Fix the mirror. I don’t want anything going wrong with the world that the human is currently in. There was already a crack before the shard broke.”

“I will do that, Emperor Beloss.”

The Emperor walked back down, pleased to see that the owl lady was already taken care of. He used his teleportation magic to quickly find himself in front of Edalyn; her eyes being their normal color instead of pitch black.

“Tell me where you put the portal to the human realm.”

“Over my dead body! I hid it where you’ll never find it.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I believe you, but you don’t understand the bigger picture. I need the portal and _quickly_. The Day of Unity is closer than ever before and I won’t let you stand in my way, you foolish witch.”

Eda glared at him but kept her mouth shut. Who knows what he would do if he ever got his hands on the portal.

“I won’t tell you anything.”

“You’re wasting my time. I’ll find a way to get you to tell me, I swear to the titan.”

He left her chained to the ground and walked away. There were no guards there at the moment, but he wasn’t worried. He could defend himself with no big sweat if it came down to it. Emperor Belos walked up the stairs, though the long halls of his castle and ended up in the throne room. The person he trusted the most was waiting there for him, with a palisman on a tray.

“My, my. You seem tired, Belos. Did the Owl Lady put up a fight?” 

“She obviously did, but still was no match for me.”

The figure nodded and motioned for him to sit. He gladly obliged and rested his head on his hand. They handed him the palisman and he let the liquid flow into his eyes. The power rush he got made him feel alive again; it made breathing easier. The person took their mask off and smiled, breathing some red smoke into Belos’ face; making him visibly relaxed.

“Belos, did the owl lady give you the portal?”

“...No, mi amada. She didn’t. Did you expect anything different? That woman is still a child at heart, won’t see reason even if it hit her in the face.”

“Maybe she’d understand if you tell her the real reason for the Day of Unity,” they brushed their fingers under his mask, “...Your body is becoming weaker the more you stay here. It's not accustomed to the magic that the Titan provides. The portal would give your body a break; you wouldn’t need to break the palisman anymore. You’re still a human, no matter how much magic you consume.”

“I doubt that she would agree to tell me if I told her. She’d probably just take pity and roll her eyes. Just how does that human do it… How come her energy isn’t being drained?”

“Oh Belos… She’s been here for barely two months while you’ve been here for over fifty years… Of course she wouldn’t be as drained as you.”

He sighs and leans back, listening to the Titans heartbeat.

“You’re right. How come you always know what to say?”

“I’m just really wise, live with that information.”

Emperor Belos looked at the person.

“ _Sure_. Really wise…if you say so, mi amor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magister had a few shards in their hand and then looked at the camera like in the office.
> 
> "...I do not actually know how to fix a mirror."
> 
> Luz high fived Magister. 
> 
> "Great take on that, Magi! Loved your take on that scene. So I'll take it from here, okay? Now! The next chapter is gonna be real fun for you guys, more lore! Woohoo!"
> 
> The director was making a stop sign from behind the camera.
> 
> "Oh we gotta wrap up? Sure, mister director. Well, see you soon!"


	6. Unexpected Miscalculation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some changes can't be undone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! thanks for all the support <3 I'll try my best to keep to the schedule but school started again so i'll have to put my focus on studying, y'know?
> 
> Updates on Sundays!

The glittering lavender fog slowly cleared from the room, revealing King still being there. He looked around for his companions, only to see that they were gone and he was alone with Magister now. 

“Your majessty,” they bowed down, “I think we sshould have a converssation. Don’t you agree?”

King glared at them, but nodded. He was in no place to start a fight; they defeated his friends all alone then what could _he_ do?

“Then talk, you sharp toothed genie.”

“Good, good. Let’ss sstart at the beginning. Do you remember the timess before the Emperor?”

He shook his head, pouting.

“What does that have to do with this? It’s been over fifty years.”

“Oh little King... That iss very important, for _you_ were the one who freed me from that mirror before the rule of the Emperor. It sseemss that you do not remember anything from that passt; let me tell you about the mirror, jusst like the firsst time we met.”

King leaned forward with interest, his expression showing that he was curious.

“I _knew_ you? Tell me more!”

Magister chuckled and smiled, showing off their fangs.

“Of coursse. I’ll sstart with the mirror, if that’ss alright with you.”

King was waving his arms around in annoyance.

“Duh! Go on, the suspense is killing me!”

“Well, first things first. The demon race that I ussed to call my family imprissioned the worst criminalss in thiss unique mirrorss, becausse it’ss glasss iss made from a rare ssand that pullss you in a daze. Whoever getss trapped in the mirror will resside in a world bassed on their actionss.”

He sat on the cold marble and crossed his arms, head tilting to the side.

“So if I'm a good ruler I’d be in a world where I have absolute control over my subjects?!”

“No, your majesty. It does not work like that. If you are a good and kind persson, you’ll be in a world that will make your deepesst dessiress come true; if you like the pain of otherss or were bad at heart, then you’ll be in a world of your worsst nightmaress. Nobody outsside of it can ssee what goess on in that world, even if they ssaid that the oness trapped in there would alwayss live in a nightmare.”

“Huh? Wait and what does that have to do with me?”

“I’m getting to that part, little King. A long long time ago, when I wass only a child, my mother wass ssuppossed to be imprissioned for being a traitor to our ruler; I got in the way of the ceremony. Alass, I got trapped myself and my family hass never been sseen again. One day, the new King of Demonss - who was you, at the time - freed me from my prission; I felt like I wass in debt with him, sso I worked as his prophet. I now recognized you by your furr, eyess and hornss - even if your hornss were whole - and decided to hide you. Your current goal iss to free your friend, am I right?”

King perked up at that. This could be a chance to let them free Luz! Then she would be there again and he would have both his friend and belly scratcher back.

“Yes! It is, so can you get her out?”

Magister shook their head and frowned.

“The Emperor hass put a sspell on the mirror that can not be broken by a mere demon like me. Only he himsself could currently break it, for he iss the one on the throne.”

“Then I’ll break it! You said that I used to be the King of the Boiling Isle, right? I have enough power to free Luz, since I was the strongest!”

“Little King. You may have the body of the true ruler, but your power iss lacking, your majessty. And sshall continue to lack if you will not find your true crown. You may be able to free your friend if the Emperor wass in power no longer; I can’t help you anymore, for I lack more knowledge. The lasst thing I know from thosse timess iss that the Emperor curssed you to overthrow you and take over the throne, but cursess are fiddly little thingss. They are in fact, sso hard to heal that there is no known cure.”

King stood up and had an upset look on his face, he was pacing around the small room.

“But there has to be a way to get Luz out of there! It can’t be impossible. We have to get her back!”

“Well... This may be fairly hard to achieve, but there iss a way to get your friend out. I’m ssaying that it could be near imposssible becausse sshe iss a human, if I recall correctly. You would have to collect all of the most important people in her current life and bring them here to the mirror and I asssume that her mother, who iss also a human ressidess in their world.”

He stopped pacing around and gawked at Magister, relieved to hear that not all hope was lost. 

“Uhm. Well, yes… but we do have a portal to get there, so it’s actually very easy! See? I already found a solution, aren’t I great?”

Magister laughed, sounding as if they were amused; they didn’t sound mocking.

“Do you have a way out, your highnesss? I posssess both the wonderful magic of oracles and the tricky illusssion magic, sso if you do not then I can mask your pressence until you leave.”

“That sounds great, my loyal subject! And as a reward for your help, I shall come back and free you once more!”

They smiled at him sweetly, like he was a long lost friend that they met again after many years.

“I sshall hold your word for that, little King. I’m looking forward to that day.”

The fog was slowly filling the room again, thick enough that he couldn’t see anything. King took a few steps forward - trying to feel his way around - but he continued to walk until the fog started to disperse, and he found himself in front of the Owl House. It was only then that the realization that both Luz and Eda were gone sank in. He shook his head, trying to get rid of his sadness. Moping wasn’t going to save Eda nor Luz. He had no reason to go inside, so he decided to get Luz’s friends first. 

The easiest ones were Willow and Gus, so that’s where he would be going first. Amity would be much harder to get, since her parents were probably really strict. They all lived in Bonesborough, so he was lucky. King had to walk all the way, his tiny legs be damned. He knew where to go since Luz showed him one time, thank the Titan. Convincing Willow and Gus’ parents to let them go out with him was actually easy; they were convinced that he was trying to plan a surprise visit for Luz and needed their children’s help. Getting Amity to come along was a bit trickier, but that was solved with Willow’s suggestion to give Amity a message and let her ask her parents. They knew that she was successful once she met up with them outside, so all they had to do now was to get Eda back.

The plan was simple, they would do pretty much the same thing as last time; it worked really well. They followed King and hid together in the shadows, but everything went much slower since there were more guards walking around. They continued to sneak around until they found themselves in the dungeons and stood in front of the door where Eda was, at least according to King. Willow broke the lock with a thorny vine and let everyone in. 

King gasped as he saw that his oldest friend was in her Owl Beast form. She let out a roar once she noticed the little group and King - in a moment of sheer panic - let out a squeak, followed by the little scream that Owl Eda seemed to find adorable. He heard a few gasps coming from behind him and a familiar laugh from his front.

“Hahaha! Oh my god, that cute little scream always gets me." 

He saw Eda - eyes normal and looking at him - wipe a tear away. He saw her expression fall and look at something behind him just as he heard the door close. 

"Lilith. Why did you come here?"

"I heard what happened, well everyone did. The Emperor was boasting about catching the Owl Lady. I… I came because he refused to heal your curse, so I decided to do something I should have done a long time ago." 

King jumped to the side as Lilith walked up to Eda. She knelt down and started whispering something to Eda. A bright, blinding light enveloped both of them and once it died down, he saw the Eda he knew and loved, standing and out of the chains.

“Lily, you-”

**_I know what you did._ **

Everyone looked around, but Lilith was shaking. She looked like she just saw a ghost.

“We have to go, _now_!”

King was picked up by Eda and they made a ‘train’ by holding each other's hands, trying to run and not get lost. Lilith was leading them out of the castle, running for her life. Eda put him down and took her staff out, along with Lilith. Eda put him and Gus on hers and jumped on, getting a headstart. Lilith caught up quickly, Amity and Willow holding on to her tightly. He was confused, what caused this reaction?

“Eda? Why did we flee so suddenly? I appreciate that you picked me up by the way, these tiny legs are awful.”

“King, didn’t you hear the Emperor’s voice? We had to run to not get caught, Pip-squeak.”

King frowned and observed their surroundings, they were nearing Bonesborough. Huh, that was fast. They continued the ride until they arrived at the Owl House, him being the first one to jump off. 

“Eda I need you to get the key to the human world, we have to get Luz’s mother and bring her here to save Luz!”

She got off too and walked over to King. King turned to look at her; he saw that she took the key from her hair, holding it to him.

“Well, then let’s go get the lady. Do you have a plan on how we’re going to deal with this?”

He jumped up and grabbed the key.

“Of course I have a plan! You, Willow and your emo sister are going to stay here and protect the portal with your magic and me, Amity and Gus are going to pursue Luz’s mom to come with us!”

Eda looked dejected, a soft and sad frown gracing her face.

“I don’t think that my magic works anymore, King. It would be better if Lily stays behind with Willow and Amity and I accompany you and Gus.”

“Then we’ll… we’ll do that. Sounds good.”

He pressed the golden slit eye and the portal appeared, white light shining through the bottom. He turned to his team.

“Are you guys ready?”

Gus nodded and put King on his shoulders.

“I was born ready, buddy! We’ll save Luz, don’t worry.”

“Tsk, of _course_ we’re going to save her! I never doubted that and whoever told you otherwise is a dirty liar with pants on fire.”

“If you say so.”

King looked back and saw Willow waving at them, wishing them luck. He, Eda and Gus walked through the door without looking back. The human world didn’t seem too different, actually. The trees were just a different kind, the grass was green and there were a few clouds in the sky. There was a clear path in front of them, so they followed it. 

“...Miss Eda? Do we know what Luz’s mother looks like?”

“Uh… oh wait! Luz showed me a picture once. I should have it… right there! Ah ha.”

Eda showed them a picture of an older woman that had glasses and her hair up, she looked a lot like Luz. Gus rubbed his chin.

“We could ask around? If someone knows where she is.”

King perked up, accidentally smacking Gus on his head.

“That’s a great idea! Good thinking.”

He looked ahead and saw a weird grey path stretching sideways. It looked like stone but liquid. They saw a house to their left, a trash can too. A lady in a blue shirt was locking the door, then she turned around and… hold on a moment is that-

Eda quickly walked over and waved at her to get her attention.

“Excuse me? Are you Luz Noceda’s mother? We need her help and urgently.”

The lady frowned and looked very concerned.

“Yes, I’m her mother. What happened to my Mija? Did she get hospitalized? Kidnapped? Please tell me she didn’t get hurt, I don’t know if I could even take that. Oh dios mío-”

“...this may sound unbelievable, but please hear us out at first. Your daughter found a portal to another world where witches live and has been kidnapped by the Emperor of said place.”

King made eye contact with her; she stared right back, eyes narrowing.

“Pardóneme, but is this a joke? My Mija went to camp, are you telling me that this happened there?”

Eda cringed visibly and looked away.

“Err- well, no. I never asked her, but I assumed she stumbled on my Palisman when he was taking some human trash and followed him to the door… This is not a joke, Miss Noceda.”

“Human trash… what a weird thing for another human to say.”

“That’s because I’m not one.”

“...Huh?”

King saw Eda brushing her hair back to let Luz’s mom look at her ears. Luz’s mother looked at Eda with wide eyes and slowly moved her hand to touch Eda’s ears. 

“You’re… telling the truth. Those aren’t fake, so you really aren’t human… What happened to my Mija and why do you need my help?”

“I’m relieved that you believe us, Miss Noceda. The problem is that the Emperor has captured and imprisoned your daughter because she is a human that can do magic. We - as her guest family - want to get Luz back, of course. King - the tiny demon on Gus - told us that we needed to get you to save Luz.”

“Is… Do you know if she’s okay? I’ll call in at work to tell them that I won’t be able to go.”

“We don’t know much, but she shouldn’t be in physical danger.”

“And call me Camilia, please. That’s much shorter than ‘Miss Noceda’.”

Eda nodded and let Camilia make the phone call. King just gawked at her, wondering how Eda got her to agree so easily. Camilia put her phone down and nodded, then asked them where the portal was. King pointed to the direction where they came from. The group walked a faster pace to quickly get back. The way was easy to follow and soon they were back to the Boiling Isle. Camilia had a shocked expression on her face, observing the unfamiliar place.

“So this is where my Mija has been staying for the past month and a half?” 

Eda nodded as a confirmation. King saw that she was about to tell her that they’ve been taking good care of Luz, but an explosion stopped her in her tracks. His vision was clouded by black smoke, a deep laugh resonating from all around him. 

“Thank you for giving me the portal, Owl Lady. I knew you would come around.”

It was over as soon as it began.

Eda clicked on the key again, the Emperor won’t be able to go through if it’s closed. Camilia looked at the place where the door was.

“Was that the Emperor?”

King jumps off of Gus and stands in front of her.

“Yeah! That’s the jerk that has been bothering us! First capturing Luz and then Eda! The difference is that to get Luz back we need to break a spell and we need everyone that Luz cares about. You’re her mother and you’re obviously important so let’s go!”

“Ay, que lindo! So tiny… You’re King, right? Do you have a plan, Tierno?”

He puffed his chest out and huffed.

“Of course I have a plan! We’re going to sneak in, avoid the guards and get Luz!”

Willow walked up to King and knelt down, a gloomy look on his face.

“King, as much as I hope that that would work, don’t you think that the Emperor would expect us to show up? I’m sure there are many more guards waiting for us at the castle.”

Camilia hummed, resting on her left leg.

“You’re witches, right? I’m pretty sure all of you can use magic, so isn’t there something that would stop these guards to see us?”

Eda perked up, remembering something.

“I recently got witch's wool! It’s a special wool that deflects magic, I made a cape for Luz some time ago; I could make two more quickly and give them to two of you. Three of us would go ahead and stay on the lookout, while the rest stay behind. We’re too many people for Gus to hide. Thank the titan that I have some invisibility potion left.”

King nodded in approval.

“Then that’s the plan we’re going with.”

They went inside and chatted a bit while waiting for Eda to finish the capes. Camilia was listening with great interest at the stories that the children had about Luz. None of them said anything, but everytime they talked about Luz, a girl with greenish-blue hair would blush.

“So, you’re friends with Luz. What are your names?”

“Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Willow Park. The guy on my left is Augustus Porter, but everyone calls him Gus and the girl that keeps blushing-” “H- _hey!_ ” “-is Amity Blight.”

Camilia chuckled, they seemed like good children. They clearly cared about Luz and were very loyal.

“It’s my pleasure to meet you, my name is Camilia Noceda. If you want to know some stories about baby Luz, then I’ll gladly tell them. She was such an adorable child, sometimes got in trouble.”

They had a quick laugh. Eda stood up and grinned, holding two capes up.

“And I’m finished! Willow, Amity and Lily, you’re going to wear the capes and lead us. I’m going to grab the potions and we’re ready to go.”

King jumped into Amity’s arms and pointed to the door.

“You heard her! Let’s go outside, so we’ll be ready to go faster!”

Lilith prepared the staves to fly to the castle, her old cape gone and switched for the new one. Everyone was already in place when Eda came out with a few bottles. They were distributed evenly amongst Camilia, herself, King and Gus. King saw how Eda gently guided Camilia on her staff before the potion wore off, then they were flying to the castle at incredible speed. His fur was swaying in the wind and soon they arrived at their destination. This was hopefully the last time that they had to go to the Emperor’s castle. Willow was right, there were even more guards than last time, but they were prepared. They didn’t encounter a single problem when sneaking in and around the halls. Soon, the familiar staircase stood before them and King took the lead back. They quickly got to the upper floor and entered the door. King stood between his family and Magister Erroris, the latter looking as if they expected them to come here. 

“I told you that I would come back, Magister. I gathered everyone too.”

Magister smiled and slowly clapped their hands.

“Impresssive, your Majesty. You were sso _quick_! Now, I forgot to mention thiss before, but thiss iss a temporary ssolution. Just like your potion.”

“But-”

“You will have to assk for help, little King. The magic of love iss far from the most powerful magic and it iss ssadly not enough to break the mirror from it’ss sseal. Now, if you’ll sstand in a circle around the mirror while holding your handss, then it sshould do the trick.”

The group does as told and a puff of smoke fills up the room, obscuring everyone’s vision for a second. Luz stood in front of the mirror once the smoke cleared; both Amity and Camilia tried to hug her, but they passed through.

“Hmm… thiss was not ssuppossed to happen, the tiny human sshould’ve been corporeal. Perhapss the crack is not big enough, but fully breaking the mirror would lead to devassating conssequencess for your friend.”

Gus took a few steps forward and put a hand through ‘Luz’. Everytime his hand was in the area where she was supposed to be, she turned into smoke. Once his hand was removed, the smoke would move back and Luz would stand there.

“What… what do we do now?”

“I ssuggest to sseek out the Emperorss help. He did put the sseal on the mirror, after all. If you know what he wantss, then you could try a bargain?”

“Thank you Magister, you’re a really big help. I’ll get you out of here next time we’ll meet.”

They nod.

“I’m sstill looking forward to that.”

Amity, Willow and Lilith stay behind, while the rest goes to search for the Emperor. They were currently invisible, so it would be easier to find out what the Emperor would want with the portal. They tried for the Throne room and they were in luck. The Emperor was currently conversing with a hooded person, talking about him getting the mirror. The person seemed bothered, claiming that the way he got the portal was cowardly but that they were happy that he got it nonetheless. King swore that he heard the hooded figure say that Emperor Belos was a human. They were slowly inching closer, but they didn’t notice how the potion was slowly fading. 

Boney hands gripped their ankles, holding them in place.

“ _God_ , can I never get rid of you? You keep getting in my way.”

“Be nicer, Belos. No wonder they felt the need to sneak in and eavesdrop on us. We can simply ask them why they felt the need to do that.”

The Emperor sighed and leaned on one arm.

“Honestly, there are too many questions to ask. For example, how are you a witch again? Why are you in the throne room, overhearing on this conversation and why do you have a human with you?”

Eda leaned on her left foot and crossed her arms.

“One, none of your business. Two, we need… your help, urgh. Never thought I’d say that. And three, that’s Luz’s mother.”

“You… need my help, with what exactly?”

“We need you to break the seal on that stupid mirror of yours. I’m sure we can have an agreement, yes? You need the portal to work, I need the kid back.”

“What exactly will you do if I refuse? You lost to me, remember?”

Eda gritted her teeth. Belos was such an infuriating guy, her ex was an angel in comparison. The masked Owl took their mask off and blew some smoke in the room, making everyone relaxed. 

“There, there. No need to start a fight. We can sort this out like adults, can’t we? Belos, you need the Owl Lady to open the portal. Do you really want to refuse this deal? They came willingly, without really causing mayhem. You should give this a chance.”

Belos groans and leans back on the throne.

“I suppose you’re right. _Fine_ , I agree to get the seal off and free the human, but you’ll have to help me with the portal to the human world.”

Eda nodded with a frown.

“It’s a deal, then.”

King glared at Belos as he freed them and then led them back to the room where Magister was trapped in. The walk was quiet, nobody dared to utter a word. They found themselves in front of the mirror in the blink of an eye and King frowned when he saw the Emperor stretch his hand out to perform some magic, making a displeased sound when he noticed that nothing changed. The seal was still there. 

  
It wasn’t working.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Author taps on a microphone.
> 
> "One, two, three? Test. Okay! It works. So this chapter is the longest chapter I ever wrote so hats down to me. 4k words? Never reached that much. Now, what can you expect from the next chapter? Easy. We're going to get a look in Luz's current whereabouts. Have fun, toodles!"


	7. Dreams with a copycat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're back to Luz's perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates on sundays, been really busy ever since school began again :(

"Luz, open up your eyes. We don't have all day, come on!" 

Luz - confused and upset that this unfamiliar voice lulled her out of her very comfortable sleep - opened up her eyes only to see a strange, black emptiness all around her. She stood on nothing but something at the same time, and a cold chill creeped up her spine. Nothing could be seen, but the darkness made it seem like there was more to it. There was no light and no darkness, absolute balance to everything in this seemingly endless space.

The only other person was an older looking girl with long, black, straight and shiny hair that hid her ears. She looked kinda like Luz herself, if only her face was a little rounder and her eyes weren’t half lidded.

"Uh... Who are you, where am I and _why_ are we here?" 

The stranger grinned, seemingly happy to have her attention.

"Oh where are my manners! My name is Lus, my dear. Your whereabouts right now are in your very own dream." 

Luz blinked, a frown slowly finding its way on her face. It made sense, she remembered falling asleep with her mothers on the couch. 

"But shouldn't I... I don’t know, dream of something instead of this? Feels very empty you know?" 

Luz saw Lus visibly forcing herself to not laugh. 

"Ha...ha? What's funny about that?"

"Oh, my dear. You're smarter than that. I'm sure you can figure out why you are here, you _did_ figure out how to do magic on the Boiling Isle without any help." 

Luz put her hand on her chin. She was here, alone with Lus and in a bunch of black emptiness. If this situation didn't scream 'this is a dream where you, the hero, get sent on a quest to save the world' then Luz was about to throw hands with the universe. What else could this mean?

"You brought me here to tell me that a great danger is going to destroy the universe and I'm supposed to save it, right? I mean, this feels like that. You're like a goddess that's gonna tell me that I do have a destiny!"

Lus looked at her with a classic 'are you for real now?' face. 

" _Uh_ , no. The universe is fine, I guess. Nah I brought you here because I have an offer for you, Luz. _Wait_... did you actually think that you have a destiny? Nobody does, Eda is right in that aspect. You make your own destiny, dear."

She crossed her arms and looked dejected. Too bad that a predestined path didn't exist. 

"Well, guess it’s confirmed, then. By the way, you also said that you have an offer for me? Is it like a deal or…”

Lus shrugged and rolled her eyes at Luz.

“I suppose. Wanna know what I want?”

Luz squinted suspiciously at the other person. Couldn’t really do anything else anyways, what can go wrong?

“Uhh sure…?”

Lus clapped her hands together and beamed.

“Perfect! So what I want should benefit you too. It’s a very easy task, entertain me.”

“Huh? That’s it? ...Wait a minute- I used to watch this show as a kid, where this triangle guy used to make deals with people to then trick them! Are you trying to do the same thing?”

The older girl’s smile fell from her face and crossed her arms. 

“No. At least not like that guy, he’s an idiot. Guess that I will have to tell you everything in more detail, though.”

Luz saw her sigh and take a few steps forward. She had to tilt her head upwards, to look Lus in the eyes.

“So, Luz. You may or may not have noticed that the world you woke up in isn’t really your world, right? I’m sure you have. To be honest with you, you’re trapped here and I’m the only way out for you-”

Luz waves her arms to interrupt Lus, effectively cutting her off.

“Wait! So you’re the one who trapped me here?”

Lus gasped at that question, quickly defending herself from her accusation.

“What? No. That wasn’t me, but I can get you out! All I want is that you play the game I prepared for us - mostly you though - and entertain me. I’ve been stuck here for who knows how long; it gets boring after a while. So you’re the most interesting thing that has happened to me in who knows how long! So are we going to play, Luz?”

Luz put one hand to her cheek and used the other one to do a wiggly motion with her fingers.

“That sounds like fun! ... Even if you’re saying it all creepy. What’s the game?”

Lus grinned, showing sharp, pearly white teeth.

“Oh I’m so glad you asked! I distributed a special keychain to everyone that helped make you grow as a person while you were sleeping, except your Mami and Eda! ...And King, he’s a cute little pupper in this world. You have to get all of them in order to get out.”

Luz crossed her arms and pouted while pacing around. One, this dream was lasting incredibly long and two, should she take up on this? It could be the chance to go home… She glanced at Lus from the side. She looked amused by how she was acting.

She turned to look at Lus and puffed her chest out.

“I’m gonna play your game, alright! I, Luz Noceda, shall finish your quest and go home in exchange.”

Lus outstretched her hand towards Luz and stared into her soul.

“Then take my hand, and the deal will be sealed. Just want to make sure.”

She felt a chilly wind swirl all around her, but she still took a step forward and shook hands with Lus.

“I’ll see you soon, Kittens.”

Luz’s eyes snapped open, her heart was racing and sweat was running down her temple. She looked around and noticed that it was dark outside, her Mami was on her laptop and that she had a blanket on her. Eda was nowhere to be seen, but King was sleeping in a designated space. She brought a hand to her temple to hold her head, she was getting a headache. Her mother turned to her as she groaned.

“Ah, Mija you’re awake. It’s a bit late, why don’t you go back to sleep?”

She rubbed at her eyes, the feeling of being tired slowly going away.

“Mhm, I don’t feel that tired, Mami.”

“Te haré té entonces. You might want to go upstairs to your bed if anything, sleeping on the couch isn’t good for your back.”

Luz heard her mother stand up and go into the kitchen. She stood up too, and slowly made her way upstairs. She put one hand to the wall to make sure to not slip up, falling from stairs can hurt a lot. Luz made it to her room without complications and lied on her bed, waiting for her mother. She scrolled through her phone until the door creaked open and her mother stepped in with a steaming cup of tea in her hands.

“Here, cari ñ o. Don’t stay up too late and have a good night, I’ll see you tomorrow. Te quiero, Mija.”

Luz took the cup from her mother’s hands and smiled.

“Gracias, Mami. Yo también te quiero, good night.”

Her mother smiled back and left the room, closing the door behind her. Luz took a few sips from her tea while watching a cat video on MewTube, the atmosphere calming her. Soon, she felt tired again; she put her cup down and fell into a dreamless sleep, a necklace with a broken mirror shard remaining a secret for her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Well, see you next week. We're gonna stay with Luz for a good while, so be prepared. Toodles!"
> 
> \---  
> translations brought to you by duo- I mean, your author.
> 
> "Te haré té entonces" = "I'll make you tea, then."


	8. Shards and Pocket Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz's first shard. The adventure goes on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya wow what a day.
> 
> Updates on sunday like always :))

The morning sun shone brightly in Luz’s room, making smooth surfaces shine and giving the furniture a golden glow. She was already up, humming a random tune as she got dressed. She woke up earlier than usual, probably due to her nap on the couch. Luz decided to go with a different outfit today, which consisted of a purple t-shirt, a pink jeans jacket with a few pins and regular ripped jeans. She liked her white vans; she kept those instead of switching shoes. She checked the time - 6:53 - and decided to look around her room to kill the time. The sunlight gave the room a mother ethereal feeling, as if everything was filled with magic. 

“Hmm… It’s unusual, but not unwelcome. Maybe I should try to wake up earlier more often…”

She eyes her art supplies on the desk near the window. They seemed unused, for some reason. They were neatly stacked; the pencils, pen and brushes were all neatly ordered by length. There was also a laptop on the desk, she assumed it was meant for homework though. Luz saw something shining from the side of her eye that caught her attention. It was a golden pocket mirror, untouched and closed. 

Luz felt soothing whispers dance around her ears, as if it was calling for her. She took slow steps towards the tiny object and gently laid it in her hands. Carefully, she opened it and instead of seeing her own reflection, she saw Lus smiling sweetly and waving at her. 

“Hi! I hope you remember me, Luz. You can’t fall asleep everytime I want to talk with you, so I decided to give you this instead! Do you like it?”

Luz blinked a few times, mouth slightly parted. The memory of her dream came back. Lus, their deal and their promise were on the clear once more. 

“Ah, Lus! Yes I like your gift a lot, it reminds me of an item in fantasy adventures. Oh by the way, how will I know that you want to talk with me? And can you give me hints or will I have to figure out everything by myself? Why doesn’t my family have these mirror shards?”

Lus chuckled and playfully rolled her eyes.

“Ah you’ll get a feeling like right then, I’m sure you know what I mean. And it would ruin the fun if I make it too easy for you! You’ll have to figure everything out by yourself and giving them to your family would be the easy way out. You could simply ask them and they’d probably give the shard to you, so no to that.”

Luz huffed and nodded.

“That’s fair. So I’ll have to get the shards from the people that helped build my character?”

The imagine in the mirror grinned and clapped her hands together. 

“You got it! Oh and they’ll have to give it to you willingly, you can’t take it from them. Y’know, if you ever think of using force. After all… People that were mean to you also helped build your character, my dear.”

Luz frowned and knitted her brows together, pacing around a little. 

“But I can’t just ask them to give me the shard! And- wait so is everyone from the Boiling Isle here? Even the monsters and-”

She was interrupted by laughter.

“Haha, no! By god Luz, you’re so silly. You met too many people for everyone to be here. No, no. Just the ones that had the most impact on you, I think it’d probably impossible otherwis-”

A knock interrupted her, making Luz shut the pocket mirror quickly in panic.

“Mija? Breakfast is ready, get out of bed please!”

“A-Ah! Yes, Mami! Gracias.”

Luz whispered an apology and put the pocket mirror in a pocket where she was sure it wouldn’t fall off. Looking in the mirror one last time, she grabbed her backpack and hastily made her way down the stairs, letting her school bag down gently as she made her way to the table. Today's breakfast was a few donuts for everyone and a fruit salad, sugary and healthy all in one!

Luz greeted her parents and sat down at the table, falling into a comfortable silence. They ate the delicious breakfast and got ready to go on with their day. Her mama was going to pull a late shift today, so she’ll get home in the late hours of the day. Luz waved her goodbye and got in Eda’s car, King hopping in the backseat. The ride was pretty much the same as yesterday; soon they arrived at their destination. She got out of the car and bid Eda goodbye, making her way to school.

She started humming a song she heard on the radio, firmly determined that today was going to be a better day. Luz walked to the school, feeling prepared for the day. A few classmates of hers were waiting outside, clearly not caring about anyone else that was passing by. She saw Amity standing in a corner, alone while holding a few books. 

She looked sad… maybe I could… give her a second chance? I was probably staring, and she caught my eyes and a small blush formed on her cheeks. But not as prominent as her Amity, it will never be like that.

This Amity can’t replace the one that secretly stole her heart.

Luz looked away, pretending that she didn’t see her. She could see Amity walk towards her from the corner of her eye, her arm reaching for Luz. 

“Hey Luz… sorry about yesterday, I had an urgent matter to settle. Can we hang out after school?”

Luz furrowed her eyebrows and looked back at Amity. She clicked her tongue once, trying to get rid of a bad taste in her mouth.

“Uh…”

Amity made a puppy face at her, holding her hands together. 

“Please? I’m sorry that I left you without saying anything, I didn’t mean to leave you hanging like that.”

“...Fine, but please tell me if you have to be somewhere before we hang out, okay? I thought you were playing around with my feelings, y’know? But thank you. Do you want to come over at my house or…?” 

The green haired girl smiled and nodded at Luz.

“I’d like that, are your parents okay with it?”

Luz put a hand to her chin and pouted.

“I’m sure it’s going to be fine, not many people come over sooo…”

She shrugged and beamed at Amity. 

“What’s your schedule for today?”

“Ah! Hold on let me check-” Amity pulled a card from her book and quickly looked over it. “- Biology, History, two hours of PE and two hours of English. What about you?”

Luz perked up and smiled widely, clearly excited. 

“I got Biology too! Well… I got Physics and two hours of math after that, but then I’ll have English too! We can go home together, is it okay if we’ll give you a ride home after that?”

Amity nodded and beamed a sweet smile at her, giggling a little. Luz felt an overwhelming sense of home. As if she was back in her world. As if there was nothing wrong and she was talking with her Amity on a regular day. It was as if everything, right here and now, was right. But a feeling deep down, a weight in her pockets reminded her that this wasn’t where she belonged. Amity smiled at her, suggesting that they go to their classes together.

They were chatting along the way, talking about their interests. In Biology they sat together, working on an assignment together. They split up after the first class, Luz being a bit bored because their Physics teacher liked to ramble about other things instead of actually doing the Subject. Luz had to go back to her homeroom for Math. Just because she was kinda good at their current subject, didn’t mean that she liked it. 

The bell rang, which meant that they should go to the cafeteria, but Luz wasn’t an idiot. She brought her own lunch to avoid what happened yesterday. She ate in peace on a bench in the main room, noticing that Viney, Jerbo and Barcus were also eating their own lunch. Luz eyed the clock over her head after she finished the sandwich that her mother had lovingly put together.

The clock ticked until a loud bell filled the silent room. Luz threw the trash away and made her way to her homeroom for English. She had a weird feeling, as if she forgot to do something…

Amity came in and sat next to her, their teacher still being absent. They both prepared their needed material and that’s when Luz had a tiny panic attack. She forgot to do her homework, which meant that she was going to get in trouble. Well, she’ll probably get a warning at first and a detention if it happens again, but still. Amity patted her on the shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. 

Amity put a hand on hers, telling her to breathe in for four seconds and to exhale for seven seconds. Her friend whispered tiny reassurances. The teacher walked in and the lesson officially began. Luz ended up getting a warning and a disappointed head shake. The class continued without any other issues and soon they were dismissed.

Luz and Amity were waiting for Eda at the gates, talking about their favourite music. Then King jumped at Luz out of nowhere and she heard Eda’s laugh and heels in the distance.

“Hey there, kiddo! Is that a friend I see?”

Luz laughed and pet King on the head, gently putting him down and smiling.

“Yeah! That’s Amity. We were wondering if she can come hang out today?”

Eda put her weight on her right leg and looked Amity up and down with a critical eye.

“Well do her parents know? I wouldn’t have anything against that otherwise.”

“Huh we-”

“Yes! Yes my parents know, there’s nothing to worry about that.” 

Luz saw Eda look a bit suspicious, but then shrugged. 

“Eh if you say so kid. Hop in the car then, Luz you can decide if you want to sit in the back with your friend or if you still want to sit on the front seat.”

“I’ll sit in the back with Amity!”

Luz grinned, grabbed Amity’s bag and carried it to the car. She then put it in the back of the car and held the car door open. Amity thanked her and sat on the left side of the car, while she sat on the ride. They were happily chatting while Eda was driving and soon they arrived at her home. Eda told them that she’ll be making snacks - making sure that their guest didn’t have any allergies first, of course - while Luz showed Amity around. 

They finished their little tour in Luz’s room. Amity was looking around while Luz prepared her books for later. Her guest turned to her with a confused expression.

“I honestly thought that your room would be more chaotic. It looks organized and really put together!”

That made her laugh.

“Haha! Did I surpass your expectations then?”

Now it was Amity’s turn to laugh, it sounded exactly how she remembered…

“I don’t think I had any to begin with, but I’d say so.”

Luz let her look around some more, but then she saw Amity freeze and furrow her eyebrows. Something probably caught her eye. She saw Amity grab something from her desk and hold it out to her.

“That necklace… where did you get it from?”

“It was a gift? Why did you ask?” 

Amity pulled a very similar necklace from her sweater, the only difference being the cut of the shard and that it had a golden rim on one side. Amity held it up next to hers.

“Because it looks like it matches my own and oh! Look at that -” She put them together in a way that seamlessly merged them. “- they fit together! I mean, how big of a coincidence is it that I found this necklace just this morning and you have a fitting match?”

Luz looked puzzled; then remembered Lus’ game. She didn’t show her revelation on her face, but decided to tell Amity nonetheless.

“Well, you see… I found this necklace on my desk when I woke up too! I don’t know if you know me that well - I don’t expect you, honestly - but I don’t like wearing necklaces. I didn’t think you’d have a matching one and even if this situation is weird, I had a dream about a girl that told me to collect all of those.”

She pointed at the necklace that Amity was holding. Said girl took a deep breath and sat down.

“Is there a chance that you won’t get into any weird situation?”

Luz grinned and shook her head.

“Nope! I believe that is my main characteristic!” 

Amity sighed and looked at Luz. Her golden eyes kept themselves locked with Luz’s brown ones.

“Guess I’ll help you then, or do you have anything against that?”

She smiled even wider and put her fingers on Amity’s hand. 

“I appreciate all help, Amity. Thank you.”

Luz’s room lost the golden glow from before, but she still felt as if there was magic in here. The mirror shards connected under their fingertips, unifying both as if they never broke. 

  
  
  
  
**Shard 2 of 9.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I felt like this was less angsty than my usual chapters, which is good. Now, if you like treasure hunts, more characters and dynamics then please sure do stick around until next week! Toodles."


	9. All actions have consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boscha's day isn't quite like imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so first things first! Shout out to my amazing Beta reader, they're amazing! Second things second... We're over 20k words, 200 kudos (which is already so much for my standards hehe) and 4k people clicked on this?? It makes me so so happy and fills me with motivation! 
> 
> Updates on sundays!

Boscha saw Luz walking with her head high and mighty through the entrance of the school. She gave her a mean look with both her eyes squinting at her; Luz ignored her and focused on Amity’s small, shy wave from her locker.  She snuck closer to them and heard them say something to each other and then hug. They broke the embrace and laughed a little, Amity laughing along with that loser. She had a faint blush on her cheeks and a genuine smile accompanying It. 

She smirked at their antics. Amity was very convincing in her 'lovey-dovey' role, they could even pull off their plan today if anything. That Luz-er looked completely smitten. God that idiot really learned nothing.

Boscha saw them walk off, chattering about some unimportant stuff; she followed them to make sure that someone was there to witness this circus. The bell rang so now they had to go to chemistry, lucky her that she shared a class with those two idiots. 

Class was boring and cringy. That nerd had the guts to say a lame pick up line and Amity actually _laughed_. Who laughed and blushed at pick up lines!? But the worst thing was that Amity made no move at all. Nothing. At. All! She is going to get attached at this point and Boscha's foolproof plan will actually fail because of a love struck couple. She didn't share all of her classes with those two today, but she just knew from Luz's happy mood that Amity did not make a move. 

The bell rang and that's when Boscha had enough. She followed them and saw Luz telling Amity that she had to go to the bathroom, leaving them effectively alone. Boscha approached Amity from behind, making the petite girl jump.

"So, Amity. How's it going? Having fun?"

She turned to her, a slight tremble in her hands and a shiny layer of sweat spreading on her forehead.

"Boscha. You've been following us?"

She rolled her eyes and gave Amity an unimpressed stare.

"Duh. Don't tell me that you didn't notice? Oh well that means my skills are too good. Tsk, anyways. You didn't do any moves yet, people are already spreading little rumours around." 

Amity had a shocked and panicked look on her face, adding to Boscha's delight.

"Rumors about me and Luz? But…"

Her heels clicked on the marble floor as she walked in front of Amity with an disinterested expression.

"Just that you and that loser are friends, nothing about you being… y'know. And it's either going to get worse or better depending on what your next action will be. When are you going to do it?" 

Amity glared at her with furious, raw hate; then her face softened and looked down.

"... Soon, don't worry about it."

"Good, I'm looking forward to that."

Boscha left and went to the cafeteria. She got her food and sat down next to her friends, eating peacefully. Her head turned to the sound of the main doors violently hitting the wall, an emotionless but slightly upset Amity with a sad and furious Luz following right behind her storming in. 

"Stop following me, Luz."

"No! You can't just walk away like that! I won't let you, Blight. Willow and Gus already pulled the same move on me and it's getting OLD!" 

"Now hear me out, you loser! I tried hanging out with you out of pity and guess what!? You're somehow boring AND weird at the same time so god damn it leave me alone!" 

"But why didn't you say something sooner!? What about this morning, HUH? What about that! You could've told me that you didn't want to do anything with me by then but noo! Little Miss perfect needs to do this in front of everyone to cause the perfect scene, am I right?" 

Boscha leaned on her elbows and leaned forward in interest, admiring this perfect scene.  Amity looked hurt for a little moment and turned to Luz.

"No, Luz. I'm not the one causing a scene. It's you. You're the one shouting and screaming, you're the one that's losing her cool. So don't you DARE blame this on me!" 

Boscha was eating all of this up, and good god how she loved the moment when one single tear fell down from Luz's eyes. 

"I just thought you'd be different, but guess I was wrong again. I thought we could be good friends, Amity."

Luz turned around and left. Boscha saw Amity vive a worried glance at the door and left too. She finished her lunch already, so her decision was to go after Amity. Both of them lost sight of Luz, so she decided to congratulate Amity.

"That was the best thing I've seen in two years! Such a raw reaction, I didn't expect that loser to react like that. It was even better than Willow and that other tiny guy. It really looked like my plan to make her fall in love with you only for you to break her heart into tiny pieces worked fantastically!" 

She put her hands on her hips and nodded, satisfied.

"Since that was better than I hoped for, I'll give you a little gift, yes? It's a really ugly necklace that I randomly found lying around, you can have it if you want." 

Boscha took the necklace out of her back with a disgusted face and let it dangle from a finger, exposing it to Amity. Said girl's eyes were gleaming with interest, she took a few steps forward and gently held the necklace. 

"It's beautiful, I can really have it?"

Boscha let it fall in her hands and rolled her eyes. 

"Sure. Now onto plan two!" 

She grinned excitedly and clapped her hands, but Amity looked horrified.

"What!? No way I'm out! I'm not going to-" 

Boscha hushed Amity and wiggled her finger in a 'no' motion. 

"Aw Amity. Did you think that this was it? No. I want Luz to suffer and while this pleased me, I need more. I want her to be a shell, a _pushover_. Someone that will be my personal punch bag, Amity."

Amity shook her head and started crying silently. 

"No. This is enough Boscha. Don't you recognize what you're becoming? It's monstrous and ruthless, what you say you desire."

Boscha grabbed Amity's chin and pressed hard on her bones. 

"You have no right to tell me what's wrong or right. Don't think that you're a goody-two-shoes because you're NOT! You care more about yourself than that fool!" 

"At least she has a heart!"

"Who cares about that when I have the power and will to get rid of that fr-" 

Boscha stumbled back and fell on her legs after a strong slap. Amity stood firm in front of her, breathing heavily and crying. She was holding something in her hand that she clicked. 

"L-Luz-"

A shadow loomed behind Boscha, who is revealed to be Luz as she stepped next to Amity, holding her up.

"Shh… it's okay, you're okay."

She narrowed her eyes at Amity and Luz acting friendly again. Something here didn't add up. 

"I thought you… wait. It was all fake?"

Luz glared and sneered at her.

"Always has been."

The brunette pointed at the recorder in Amity's hands and calmed down, making Boscha uncomfortable.

"And we got everything recorded, so I'm glad we agree that you'll delete the photos and will shut up about Amity's secret. Wouldn't want to go to the police for this and cause unnecessary drama, right?" 

She gritted her teeth and glared at Luz. Painfully, she mumbled something under her breath.

"What was that? Couldn't hear you."

"I said 'fine'."

She saw Luz releasing a breath and trying to calm Amity down, but they didn't act like a couple. That made an idea creep up in her mind.

Luz didn't know about Amity's secret, so she's going to push this to the limits.

"Hey… She told you her secret, right? I doubt you would help her if you didn't."

She saw Luz look away dejected, rubbing her arm awkwardly. Boscha laughed - almost crying tears - and glanced at Luz. 

"Oh my god! You don't know, this is absolutely priceless! You really are naive." 

She stood und and put her hands in front of her mouth to stop herself from laughing. 

“You really don’t know? Weren’t you curious? Hmm… you know, it kinda surprised me. I thought it was really obvious, but apparently you’re both blind.”

Amity was still crying, but her hand reached out for Boscha despite everything.

“Please- Please, Boscha! Don’t do this…”

She swatted the hand away and turned back to Luz.

“Come on! Say something, this is getting boring. You just keep glaring at me like I did a crime or something.” 

Luz physically stopped herself from doing something she would regret later.

“I’m not interested in playing your little mind games, Boscha.” 

“What mind games? I’m just saying. Aren’t you curious about her secret?”

Boscha smirked and Luz snarled.

“She’ll tell me whenever she’s ready to tell me, I don’t need someone like you to tell me something that important. It’s not your decision to make.”

“But isn’t it disgusting that she likes girls that way? All the times that you hugged and had a good time could’ve had a very different meaning.”

Luz grabbed her shirt in a fist and pushed her back, slamming her into a wall. Boscha looked nervous for a few seconds but masked it with a smug grin.

“All the moments we had together were fantastic, thank you very much. Oh and it would be disgusting if she liked you, you _witch_. How could anyone ever like you? Your personality is good looking trash and the good looking part only comes from the aesthetic of your clothes; you don’t even have anything to back you up. Amity though? She is such a sweet person that had to do horrible things because of you. She is so loveable and who cares if she likes boys or girls, what matters is that she’s happy! And you…”

Her shirt was being grabbed harder and the push was starting to hurt. Suddenly, she felt as if she made a mistake by pushing Luz’s buttons.

“You are simply a monster. Amity told me about your plan, y’know? She also told me about the situation with Willow and Gus and while I don’t forgive what they did, I absolutely despise you. You’re using other people to do your dirty work and to ruin other people's lives.”

Boscha snarled and frowned, digging her nails in Luz’s arms and flipping their position.

“You know NOTHING about me! You don’t get to tell me what to do or-”

A phone interrupted her, but what truly made her heart beat faster was the fact that Amity was holding her phone and calling the police. She feared Boscha, it was clear from the expression on her face as she was telling the current events to the officer on the other side of the phone. Principal Bump also stepped into the hallway, agape from the scene. Boscha quickly let go of Luz and put her hands up in the air.

“This is not what it looks like! She attacked me first, it was self-defence!”

He frowned and looked at Amity.

“Is it true, Miss Blight? Because when I look at Miss Noceda I see her arms bruised, but when I look at our dear Rugby team captain I can clearly see her unarmed.”

Amity nods and steps next to him.

“Principal Bump? Boscha wanted to reveal private information that I didn’t tell her to get me to agree on bullying Luz. We recorded everything for the police because this was getting too serious.”

The principal nodded and turned to Boscha.

“First of all, I’m afraid that you need to come to my office. Second of all, Miss Blight I would like to see and hear your recordings with a police officer. I’ll get a teacher to escort you and Miss Noceda to the infirmary to get her wounds checked. I shall accompany Boscha to my office to make sure she doesn’t run away.” 

He took a phone out and dialed a number, a teacher showed up right after he hung up and the police sirens could be heard in the distance. Boscha was speechless, this was not part of her plan at all! She was supposed to get away with it, not actually face consequences! She saw Amity holding gently onto Luz before the Principal Bump grabbed her arm and dragged her to his office, a policeman coming along with them. 

She had to sit in a chair in front of the desk. Principal Bump sat on the other side, calling her parents while the police officer - who was glaring at her - stood in front of the door. Her parents showed up before Amity and demanded an explanation. The door opened and both Luz and Amity walked in with a female police officer, then sat on the other side of the chair and gave the recorder to the lady. They all went quiet when it started playing and her parents were shocked the further they listened. The police officers stopped the recording.

“That’s enough evidence. You made a whole plan to hurt, humiliate and I quote ‘get rid’ of this girl for what? Revenge? You will have to face consequences for this; you also physically harmed her. We will now take the recording and bring you to the station, Miss.”

She stayed silent as the police officers took her to the police car with her parents and drove her away. She confessed that she was going to take action after school too, but didn’t actually plan on following through.

They agreed that she’d have to bring her to therapy to talk about this and other possible problems that caused her to act this way and that she’s suspended for two days. The school had a strict ‘no-bullying’ policy so they would give an actual punishment but also meant to fix the root of the problem.

Boscha sighed and thought about Luz; wondering if bullying her was actually worth it. She got in her parent’s car and saw Luz drive away with Amity and the necklace she gave them.

  
  


**Shard 3 of 9.**


	10. Oh wow! Sports.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sports festival chapter you probably didn't expect and neither did I.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went on a 5 day journey of finding myself again because motivation absolutely left me. I felt as if my writing sucked too much to post but then I remembered who I'm writing this for. And it's for me, I want to see what I can do and I want to see where this can go. So thank you for staying after all this time!
> 
> Updates on every sunday!

Luz felt a tap on her right shoulder as she was talking to Amity - who was reading a book. She turned; saw nobody and got a tap on her left shoulder instead. She remembered that silly trick and turned fully, only to see Edric and Emira grinning while leaning on each other. Edric leaned forward and grinned. 

“‘Sup Luz! How is our favourite troublemaker? Thanks for helping out with the prank by the way! Oh and hi Mittens." 

Emira waved her hand around and smiled, putting more of her weight on her twin.

"Anyways, you should've seen our parent's faces! Too bad that you couldn't come with us, cutie." 

Luz blushed a little and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

"A-ah! Well I'm just glad you two didn't crash the car while driving Amity home, it was an actual worry-" her eyes widened and her arms flapped in a cross motion. "Not that you _can't_ drive! I'm just gonna. Shut up. Yes."

That made the twins laugh so much that they were almost crying tears. Luz was pretty sure that she heard Edric wheeze ' _oh my god, that was so cute and awkward_ ', Emira an ' _I'm literally getting second hand embarrassment_ ' and saw Amity smirk from the corner of her eye while trying not to laugh. It made Luz laugh along too until the ringing of the announcement bell filled her ears.

"Good morning students. As you all know, we couldn't host the sports festival for the upperclassmen last year, we have decided to host it today at 1 PM due to a postponement. The prize is a trophy like every year and a special prize to whoever wins first place. Everyone who is participating doesn’t have to attend classes, they may also bring one student for moral support. Thank you for listening."

The speakers cut off and the chatter began again - they did still have ten minutes until class. Luz pouted, she wanted to take part in the competition but it was for upperclassmen only. What was the chance that someone would bring her along?

She glanced at Amity and saw that she also looked bothered. Could it be that she wanted to be there too? Too bad for them, then. Emira exchanged a look with her brother and cleared her throat to gain their attention.

"Well… We could bring you two along as our moral support, but we want Luz to help us with our master pranks in exchange. Sooo? Whatcha say?" 

Both girls perked up at that, Luz nodding excitedly and Amity rolling her eyes with a small ‘ _thank you_ ’ leaving her lips. Edric gestured two thumb ups and grinned.

“It’s a deal, then! We,” He motioned to him and Emira, “will be going to the changing rooms, while you two will go directly to the field. See ya later, alligator!”

He scooped up his sister and waved at them, Luz waving back with energy. She turned to Amity and grabbed their things. 

“Let’s go then! Wow I really thought I had to sit out on that, who knows what we could’ve missed. Right, Amity?”

She looked back at her friend and saw her standing there, a pensive look slowly taking place on her face.

“I- Oh my god- It was a trick! They probably would’ve taken us with them anyways, and we just fell for that.”

Luz shrugged and smiled at Amity, trying to get her to relax a bit by being calm.

“Well, it’s not that big of a deal, right? We’ll get to hang out more if I’ll come over to do pranks with your siblings, so I see this as a win-win situation!”

She saw her get closer, now walking with Luz. 

“Yeah, you’re right. I guess you have a point…”

She chuckled as they were near the stadium, making Amity look at her with a small blush. They walked for a short while in a comfortable silence until Luz put their bags down in the first row.

“Welp! We beat Edric and Emira to the sports fields. Oh, by the way, what does the competition contain? I’m pretty sure there are athletics and ball sports; I doubt that’s it though…”

They both sat down; Amity brought her right hand to her chin and hummed.

“Well, I’m pretty sure there is going to be long jump, ball throw, running, football and rope pulling. It could be that there’s more, though.”

Luz nodded and fist bumped the air.

“Well that sounds cool! Thanks for explaining. …”

They continued chatting for a good while, noticing that more students were showing up. Edric and Emira were still missing, but who knew what they’d be up to. A hand touched Luz’s left shoulder and she felt a soft breath next to her right ear.

“ _Boo_!”

She and Amity screamed at the same time. Luz remained seated and clutched her shirt but Amity jumped up from her seat and fell down, then started kicking Edric and cussing him out.

“Jesus christ _Edric_ \- I hate you so much! Did you have to do that, you empty headed watermelon!? And shouldn’t you two be down there instead of up here?”

The Blight twins were crying tears and laughing uncontrollably. Emira was hitting her brothers back and Edric was clutching his sides. Luz felt her heart still beat faster than preferred. They started to calm down. Edric waves his hand nonchalantly. 

“Hehe… Okay well, we wanted to let you two know we’re gonna go down. Soooo bye!”

He grabbed Emiras wrist and dragged her with him while she was still giggling. Amity’s face was red all over from both the scare and being angry. Luz saw her sit down and bounce her leg up and down.

“Hey, Amity? Are you okay?”

She turned to her but she turned away and huffed.

“I’m just mad at them. They always take their time for stupid pranks…”

Luz put a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s what siblings do, right? Get on your nerves in any way possible? Don’t let it bother you too much, Amity.”

Said girl sighed and turned back to Luz, not looking angry anymore.

“Thanks. How are you, though? You looked like you had a big scare.”

Luz rolled her wrist and whistled.

“Nothing I can’t handle- oh look! They’re starting the practice round!”

The both of them leaned forward and tried to find Ed and Em through the big crowd of students. They weren’t that hard to find, with that bright red ginger hair. Emira and Edric were preparing themselves for the running track. A few other students placed themselves next to the twins, but they only ate their dust when the starting signal clapped. Their speed was impressive!

“I- Amity you didn’t tell me that they can teleport? How did they get to the other side of the track so quickly?”

Amity looked down and grimaced.

“They excel at almost all sports, It could be that they’re the best students at our school. Our parents… They enrolled them in many after school activities, so maybe that’s why they’re so good.”

“Well I’m sure you’re amazing at many other things, you know?”

Luz gently nudged her and smiled.

“I’m glad you’re not like your siblings. You’re perfect just the way you are, Amity.”

She looked back to the fields - missing the strong blush on Amity’s cheeks - and saw that the twins were now stretching their arms for the ball throw. They threw the ball at the same time, but Emira’s went further than Edric’s. Both of them quickly finished with all the activities, now clearly showing off their flexibility. Edric was walking on his hands and Emira was doing splits. A bell rang a little later, meaning that the real competition was now just starting. 

Principal Bump and Vice Principal Frewin were explaining the rules, then stood to the side to commentate the first contest, which was rope pulling. It seemed that the Blight twins were having a tiny bit of trouble with pulling, but they won nonetheless with three to one. Amity cheered weakly as Edric and Emira got first and second place in the running contest, but Luz put in the missing energy in her cheering. The whole field was silent when they heard Bump talk into the microphone.

“It seems that Edric Blight has established a new record for our school in the 100 meter run with 10.24 seconds, congratulations. Let’s go on with the athletics. Students line up for the long jump! I wonder if anyone will whine about sand in their shoes, that’s one of my favourite parts.” 

Luz saw a lot of upperclassmen look down about the next competition. _Huh_ , who knew that practically everyone hated the long jump.

This was the first time today that the Blight twins didn’t win first place at all, but they were still second and third place. A girl twisted her ankle and was brought away by the nearby medic team.

Now they went on with the ball throw, another brilliant success for Edric and Emira. Luz heard a microphone being turned on and Frewin spoke up.

“The Blight twins take first and second place again, just how do they do that? I’m sure the students on the sides are rooting for them to win at this rate. We will go over to the last official competition, football! Please go to the respective sides of the fields and prepare for the whistle. We will begin shortly.”

Luz leaned over the fence to get a better look at the set up. Emira was standing near the center of the field, to the right of the ball and Edric - who looked very excited - was the goalkeeper. Both teams were ready and the whistle blew.

She listened eagerly as the Vice Principal commented on every move both teams made. Class 10A - in which Edric and Emira were in - was winning with one to zero against class 10B. Both teams had amazing defences, so they were having trouble with actually scoring a goal. They didn’t have much time left for this last match.

A player from class 10B suddenly ran across the field with the ball at their feet, evading the defences without problems. Luz saw Edric move before she even saw the ball being kicked, but his reflexes were so fast that he blocked the ball with his shin.

The force of the kick pressed Edric’s leg against the metal of the goal post, a weak crunch echoing to Luz’s ears. He quickly threw the ball back to his team and two medics carried him away as the second goalkeeper ran in. Emira stole the ball and played with her teammates until they were near enough to score a second goal, taking the win with two to zero for her brother.

The whistle blew again, signaling the end of the competition.

Class 10A was loudly cheering, clearly happy to have won. Luz saw Bump walk to the field while holding a small, golden trophy. Frewin was instead holding a microphone in his hand. 

“Congratulations Class 10A, you have won this year's competition! Now, Emira Blight. There is an extra competition with one special reward if you win. Normally, the first and second place would participate, but as your brother got injured you are free to choose your partner.”

He passed her the microphone and she checked the sound.

“Ah well, first of all, congratulations to everyone else too. We all put so much effort into this! Now, I would like to choose my little sister, Amity Blight to participate with me. We started with a pair of Blight siblings and _I’ll be damned_ if we’re not going to end this with a pair of Blight siblings!”

The crowd started clapping and cheering loudly. Luz turned to see Amity’s shocked face, only for it to change into a determined smile. She stood up and passed her, going down the stairs, for then to stand next to Emira. Frewin took the microphone back and chuckled.

“Well, while it is unusual for this to happen, I don’t see how it should be a problem. The truly last competition is basketball! Two versus two, three hoops to win.”

Bump and Frewin both took off their robes only to reveal that they were wearing basketball adequate clothing. Two pairs of students brought two basketball poles and a teacher came to watch them to make sure they played fairly. Frewin gave the teacher his microphone and they both got ready. Emira glanced at Amity and they both nodded.

The teacher blew a whistle and threw a basketball in the field. Frewin was fast and grabbed the ball right under Amity’s nose, Bump was already on their side of the field and they passed the ball to each other, already scoring one point. 

Luz gripped the fence that stopped her from getting on the field tightly. If things went on like this, then they would lose for sure! She cupped her hands in front of her mouth and took a deep breath.

“Come on, Amity! I know you can win! Give it your all you two, I’m cheering for you!”

Amity looked right into her eyes, and she felt a spark. Luz would be cheering for her and she better give it her all.

The ball was thrown in once again, but this time Emira jumped up right over Frewin and grabbed the ball. Not expecting to fail, Frewin skipped forward while Bump left their side of the field unprotected, practically giving Amity and Emira a free score. They went back to their respective places and the teacher threw the ball in. Bump was going in to grab the ball this time, but Emira jumped higher and pushed the ball to Amity, instead of grabbing it. They went around Bump and Frewick, Amity tossing the ball to Emira who was jumping up, giving them a really cool score.

The two sisters gave themselves a high five, feeling pumped for the crowd’s cheers. She didn’t think that anyone noticed; Luz saw Bump and Frewin nod at each other, as if they had a plan.

Starting once again, Bump was successful in grabbing the basketball, throwing it at Frewin, who was behind Amity. She caught it instead of him, but she was now surrounded by her opponents. What they didn’t know was that they had a secret technique. Amity jumped up and ‘dribbled’ the ball over to Emira, who ran to the opposite side of the field - Bump being a bit too old to actually stop her - and scored the last point that was necessary for the win. The whistle blew for the last time today, ending the game.

Luz’s throat was sore from all the screaming and cheering, her hands stinging from clapping. They won! She was so happy for Amity. She saw the Principal and vice Principal look a bit down, but they gave each other a pat on the back and sighed. Bump took the microphone back and Frewin left to get the reward for winning.

“Amity and Emira Blight have won fair and square, for which they’ll receive a reward. Congratulations. Everyone else either goes home or back to their last class for today, goodbye.”

Vice Principal Frewin came back with a… _with a mirror shard_!?

Luz put a hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming something embarrassing. She could feel sweat running down her temple as Emira took the necklace, thanking Bump and running back to Amity to give her a head lock along with a new hairstyle. Emira put Amity on her shoulders and carried her around, loudly cheering “ _Woohoo_!! That’s my little sister! We did it, Mittens!”. 

Amity’s eyes were on her as she took both of their bags and walked away from the stadium, a silent promise of a ‘ _talk to you later_ ’. Luz went to the entrance of the school, deciding on not going back to class. She waited for Amity to come, but it took so long that when she did show up, Luz was on her phone scrolling through Penstagram. 

“Hey Luz, thank you for cheering me on. I was really surprised when it was revealed that the reward was a shard. What does Bump have to do with it?” 

Amity sat next to Luz, holding the shard to her. She took it with a smile and united it with the rest. 

“Well… He was the one that allowed me to go to Hexside, you know? I was actually banned from ever setting foot in there, but he still allowed it! Which was really cool of him by the way, oh and he let me study all types of magic classes. It wasn’t actually allowed to study multiple courses, so I guess… he’s a reason for me being the way I am now. The opportunity that he gave me let me develop my relationships with Willow, Gus and you.”

Amity smiled and looked at the street, bringing her legs to her chest.

“I guess he really did have a part in helping develop your character. You told me that you’re sure that Willow and Gus have a shard, but are you sure you want to go through this? What they did was really awful…”

Luz put her phone down and took a shaky breath.

“I already talked to them yesterday, they’re coming over tomorrow so I guess that I have to do this now. No going back on that.”

She felt a soft and gentle hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay if they make you upset. You’re allowed to feel bad about this, Luz. You know that, right? Do you want me to be there too, or…”

She shook her head and leaned on Amity, feeling comforted by her mere presence.

“I don’t want to feel upset over this, they’re my friends.”

Luz was enveloped in a hug by Amity. She felt Amity’s hands patting her back gently.

“You know, Luz? Not only did people change you, but you changed people too. I… I know that I myself didn’t really like shows of affection, but it feels just natural with you. I felt more at peace ever since we began really hanging out, maybe even… since we became friends? Just know that things are going to be okay. You’ll be alright, Luz… and for now?”

Eda’s hells clicked in the distance, along with a few familiar and excited barks.

“Let’s go home, okay?”

She pulled away and smiled at Amity.

“Home sounds nice.”

  
  


**Shard 4 out of 9.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Well this was fun to write! Says me, who hates our annual sports festial. Hehe, honestly though. I love writing the 'Lumity' dynamic in this. Thank you for readin till chapter 10! I'm definetly planning on writing more, so stay around! Can you believe that this is still going?? I'm so proud of this fanfiction. Welp, Toodles!"


	11. Sometimes the truth hurts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz talks with Willow and Gus about what happened before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw sorry european gang for posting at 1 am! I hope you'll forgive me <:) 
> 
> Happy 1 month! I started writing this story exactly 1 month ago, I'm so proud of how far I've come :D
> 
> Updates on every sunday, like always!

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday-which didn’t match Luz’s feelings at all. How dare the weather be this good in the morning when she still had to talk with Willow and Gus? 

She was dangling her legs as she sat at the table, waiting for her parents to finish preparing the breakfast. Eda said she wasn’t allowed to go in the kitchen because they were preparing a surprise. Her mom leaned against the door and told her to close her eyes.

Luz heard the sound of plates being put down on the table and Eda’s cheerful voice told her to look. Her mouth was watering just by looking at the beautiful composition of fruits and pancakes. Luz’s parents smiled and they began to eat while chatting about their week and plans for the next few days. Eda told her that she’d like to bring her to her workplace to see how it works, kinda like a ‘bring your kid to work’ day. 

The doorbell rang a few minutes after they cleaned up the table and Luz hopped to open the door. Willow and Gus were standing there, waving shyly at Luz. She saw that Gus was holding a box of chocolates at her, so she took it and let them in. Her parents saw their guests and stood up to greet them.

“Oh hello there! You can call me Camilia and this is my partner, Eda. Nice to meet you two.”

Eda chuckled and leaned on Camila.

“Aw, you know that I can introduce myself, right? Well kids, you can go up to Luz’s room - it’s up the stairs and then to the right. We’ll be here if you need anything!”

Luz, Willow and Gus were practically shoved up the stairs by Eda. She guided them to her room and then closed the door, but didn't lock it. Her guests looked around, Gus gaping at all the video game merch she owned. Willow looked uncomfortable being in her room but still glanced at her surroundings. Luz noticed that of course, but she also wanted to talk about the reason why they’re here.

“Welp… I’m sure that you’re wondering why I invited you here? I mean, I didn’t really tell you why when I said to visit me on Saturday. “

She saw Gus looking a bit distraught, an apologetic look on his face. 

“I’m so sorry for what happened! I never thought that things would go that far, it was supposed to be a harmless tiny prank - at least that’s what Willow told me - and things would be fine. I already had my doubts when Willow came back from her private conversation with Boscha and told me to pick up the spilled food from the ground and I hope you’re fine after that.”

He nudged Willow after she said nothing at all with a frown on his face.

“I apologise too, and even if I had my reasons to do it I see that it hurt you. I won’t do it again, I promise.”

Luz shook her head and crossed her arms, looking at both of her guests.

“I don’t really want to hear you two apologise, because I don’t know if you actually mean it. You can say that you’re sorry, but it doesn’t really change what happened. What I want to hear is why.”

Luz started to pace around her room, one hand at her temple and the other moving left and right. She turned to look at Willow, taking a step forward to get closer; not noticing that the girl took a step back with a slight panic.

“Why did you do that? We really need to talk about this, I don’t want to ignore it anymore.”

Willow inhaled sharply and frowned.

“It’s private and doesn’t concern you.”

Both Luz and Gus looked at her with a confused and upset expression. Luz leaned back and put a hand to her temple. 

“Sorry, but what? It’s not really private if you involved me in this. I think I have a right to know why you pulled that trick on me. I won’t go around and tell everyone if you don’t want me to, but the least you can do is tell me.”

Luz saw Willow roll her eyes, seeming cold and closed off. Where was the girl that tried to warn her?

“Well, then all I’ll say is that Boscha asked me to do it. I’m sure you already know that she doesn’t like you.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t give you a reason to dislike me though? I thought we were getting along well, actually.”

Luz saw Willow shake her head with a groan. Gus was more on the sidelines, looking insecure about what to do. 

“It’s not that I don’t like you, it’s just- there’s a reason why I did what I did, isn’t that enough?”

She sighed and looked at Willow with tired eyes.

“Just saying that you have a reason doesn’t validate your actions. The reasons can vary a lot! Like… did Boscha blackmail you? Or it could’ve been that you wanted to get on her good side. If Boscha did find out something that you’re ashamed of, or a secret that you don’t want to tell then I understand, and I won’t pry further.”

Willow looked like she wanted to say something, but Gus interrupted her.

“I know that Boscha found out that Willow has two dads, but I didn’t think she’d be so afraid of that getting out. And honestly? You have two moms, Luz. I think you could relate with her on that, right?”

Luz stared at Willow with wide eyes; her expression turned soft. Willow looked horrified instead, hurt in her eyes. Luz saw her glare at Gus, who looked away ashamed of what he just said.

“Oh Willow… I-”

“No- Gus?! Why would you tell her that! You know that I don’t want people to talk about my parents, they’re already having trouble with their coworkers. I just... “ She sighed and wiped her hands on her face. “I want my parents to be safe and happy. There’s a lot of rich and influential families at school and I doubt they’d agree with my parents' relationship.”

Luz wanted to reach out to Willow, but stopped herself.

“Is that the reason why you’re so defensive?”

The girl in front of her nodded as a confirmation, rubbing her arm while looking away from Luz.

“Boscha found out and I panicked. It became the reason why she bullied me and Gus. She offered to stop if I helped her prank you and I just saw that as an opportunity to stop that cycle. I… Boscha asked me to check on Amity after you walked away, but she saw me. Amity told me that I was dumb for believing that Boscha would actually stop and that’s what motivated me to tell you.”

She stood still, taking a moment to actually look at Willow. Her breathing was irregular and her voice slightly shaky. She looked sad and hurt, but also slightly frustrated. Shiny, unshed tears caught Luz’s attention.

“Willow… I- I didn’t know that it was like that. I really appreciate you opening up abou-”

“NO! I didn’t tell you to get your pity! I don’t need it.” 

“I’m not pitying you, Willow!"

Luz stood firm even as Willow got visibly frustrated with her, glaring at her and tightly clenching her own fists.

"You are! Just like my old classmates. You pretend that you're nice only to one turn your back on me! Gus is the only one I can trust. You though? I barely know you. How can you expect me to be friends with you?"

Tears gathered in her eyes, threatening to spill with only a bat of her eyelashes. Gus looked horrified at Willow's words. 

"Willow, I think you should go outside and get some room to breathe. Both for you and Luz - look at her - Is this what you wanted?”

Willow took a step back and paid attention to Luz’s expression. She was silently crying, but still being able to see that Willow turned around and silently left the room. Gus got closer to her and put a hand on her shoulders.

"Hey… It's okay to cry."

Her legs gave out, but Gus steadied her and slowly let her down. 

“What did I do for her to hate me so much?”

He shook his head.

"I don’t think it’s about what you did, but what you could've done. I’m sorry for what Willow said, Luz. I don’t know how much it matters to you, but I think of you as a friend. We talked for long enough for me to somewhat understand who you are as a person.”

Luz saw Gus kneel in front of her with a compassionate but sad expression.

“Hey Luz?”

She wiped her tears away and hummed as a confirmation that she was listening.

“I know it isn’t much… but I want to give you something. I woke up a few days ago and saw a necklace with a note attached to it on my night table. I’m not really a necklace person, so I found it weird; the note said that I’ll know what to do with it when the time is right.”

He took one of the shards she had to collect out and put it in her hands. He had a tiny, hopeful smile on his face. 

“I understand if you don’t want to be friends with me - or us - after what happened, but I want this shard to symbolize a new beginning where we could become friends. I’m sorry for everything bad that happened to you, you really didn’t deserve it.”

Luz looked down and then back to Gus, showing him a wobbly smile.

“That… sounds nice actually. I want to give this friendship another chance and even if I wanted to be friends with Willow, I don’t know if I can forgive her. I just- It doesn’t feel like she’s actually sorry.”

Her door opened and Willow stood there, guilt visible on her face. Her shard was also in her hands, dangling from her strong grip and shining from a ray of sun coming into her room.

“I overheard you talking… I-” Luz heard her take a deep breath. “I do feel bad, but I also feel like what I did was right. I did what I did to stop the bullying. But I realize that I hurt you while doing that. Amity is right, the bullying wouldn’t have stopped because just Boscha told me she would stop.”

She took a few steps forward, laying the shard right in front of Luz only for her to then stand back - leaving some distance between them.

“It’s not the start of friendship, but maybe a new beginning. I’m sorry for what I said, we should go now and give you some time for yourself. Bye Luz.”

Gus looked between Willow and Luz, then waved and followed Willow outside. Her door closed and she stared at the two shards with a pained face. She attached them to her own shard, creating half of a mirror. Her phone was lying on her table and she remembered that Amity offered to come over if she so desired. A feeling of tiredness and sadness moved her to call for her friend. 

Her call was answered almost right when she dialed her number.

“A-Amity? Could you please come over if you’re not busy…? I… I overestimated on how much this conversation would take a toll on my feelings…”

“I’ll be there as soon as possible, Luz. Stay strong for me, okay? Do you want me to keep the call on?”

“You can hang up, you’ll be here soon anyways.”

“Okay, just hang in there.”

The call ended, leaving Luz a silent mess. She stayed on the floor for who knows how long until the door to her room opened, Amity walking in with a worried expression. She was looking at her with such sadness when she saw her crying on the floor. Amity sit down next to her and pulled her into a hug.

“Sh… it’s okay, you’re okay. I’m here for you, you can cry. You were so brave to face them head on - I know that I wouldn’t have been able to. There, there.”

Luz stayed in that position until she calmed down, Amity whispering encouraging words to her while rubbing her back. She felt tired from crying, her eyes were so heavy that she could fall asleep like that. 

“I wish- I wish I could have this with my Amity…”

She wouldn’t remember anything else once she woke up, but Amity sat there with a smile on her face as she whispered gently.

“Don’t worry, Luz… I’m your Amity. Sweet dreams.”

**Shard 5 and 6 of 9.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I should stop writing there at 1 am, I keep doing other things instead of writing even if I tell myself to write. It seems that I'm a professional procastinator! ...which is bad. Very bad. My poor beta(s) need to correct so many mistakes because of the time! Well... As for the next chapters, you'll get a good amount of world building! Isn't that exiting?"
> 
> The author smiled, their glasses hiding the bags under their eyes.
> 
> "I'm really looking forward to them and don't worry, you'll hear from me soon! Toodles."


	12. The Owl's nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bring your kid to work day, but you should already know with Luz's luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!! HAHA yes! Another update! But not on sunday :)) 
> 
> Updates on every sunday :) (and sometimes, you get a little treat)

Luz’s door slammed open at 7 am thanks to the one and only Edalyin Clawthorne - or is it Noceda? They’re not married, right?

“Ah you’re already awake, kid! Good, good. We’re going in five minutes, so get ready!” 

She left her room with a chuckle and Luz turned her pc off. She grabbed a bag and put her pocket mirror in it, just in case Lus wants to contact her. It was somewhat weird that they haven’t talked ever since she got her first shard, but that means everything is going well. 

Eda gave her a sandwich to eat in the car while they drove to work. They got off when the car parked in the store’s personal parking lot and got in the back door.

“Okay kid, so today you’ll be working at the store. I’ll show you around and explain everything you need to know, is that good?”

Luz hummed thoughtfully and rubbed her chin while going around the shop. It wasn’t the biggest one out there, but it looked cozy and friendly.

“Can I ask about the backstory of your shop? Like, why did you decide to do this and stuff.”

Eda smiled with a toothy grin. Leaning over the counter, she gestured to the whole shop in a swift motion.

“This? Used to be a boring mattress store. It was abandoned by the time I got here, but it seemed like a good way to turn something forgotten and old into something better. I... “

Luz saw her look sad for a moment, holding her arms in a crossed position.

“I used to study law with my sister and we just grew apart, I guess. We always wanted to be better than the other and that got to our head. It got so bad that I almost got hurt, so I left. It was our dream to work together as a team - you’re smart, I’m sure you know how that plan ended.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, but you studied law… Why are you working at a jewelry shop? You’d think that you would become a police officer or a judge in court?”

Eda sighed and laughed jokingly.

”Heh… I met your mother. She changed my _whole_ point of view! She told me that I didn’t have to do what I studied, that I had more options. I realized that my dream wasn’t to do that kind of job, and I searched for my passions. What did I enjoy? What did I hate? You should ask yourself that too. You’re young, but you’re also growing up so fast and one day you need to know what you want to do for the rest of your life.”

Luz looked at Eda, then looked away with a pensive expression. She leaned back on the counter and held herself up with her elbows.

“Is this also a reason for why you wanted to bring me to your workplace? Kinda cheesy but also good life advice?”

Her arm got nudged by Eda’s elbow and she made a silly face.

“Yeah but if she asks where you got it from, then it wasn’t me.”

The backdoor opened and a short guy came in, holding his bag in one hand. He was staring at her with a slightly confused face; he shrugged, only to then walk away. Eda followed the guy and put a hand on his shoulder, then moved her hands so fast that Luz couldn’t follow at all. They guy also started moving his hands in a specific pattern that she didn’t recognize.

“Uh… Eda? What are you doing with your hands?”

Her mom turned to her and facepalmed herself.

“Oh god, I should’ve expected this. You haven’t met Owlbert yet. He’s mute, so I learned sign language to make him feel welcome. Would you mind using a notepad to communicate with him?”

Luz, the small genius, held up her phone and grinned.

“This way, we can correct any mistakes and it’s limitless! Communication shall not be an issue anymore.” 

Owlbert walked back in the room with his uniform on. He was staring at her phone with a small smile on his face. He typed something on his phone and held it up for her to read.

‘ _Hi! I’m Owlbert (yes that’s how my name is spelled), nice to meet you. I was surprised to see you here so early, but Eda probably wanted you to get here as quickly as possible. You’ll be with me for the most time since I’m the one that’s doing the customer service today. :)_ ’

She quickly typed a response and held it up.

‘ _Hi Owlbert! I’m Luz, nice to meet you too ^v^. Thank you for letting me work with you. Btw that’s an interesting way of spelling your name :o I’m sure your parents love owls a lot._ ’

They went back and forth for a while and a friendly atmosphere was all around the shop. Eda waved her hand to catch their attention. She started signing and talking at the same time. 

“We’re opening the store now, so get ready and Luz? Don’t worry too much about what you’re doing. That’s why Owlbert is here.”

They both nodded and got to work. The first thirty minutes were calm - more like _boring_ \- due to the lack of customers. Some fancy looking people were looking around, but Luz doubted that they wanted to actually buy anything. Despite that she smiled, this was kinda nice. 

After some waiting, a pair of women walked hand in hand and asked if they could buy a pair of matching ‘rose rings’ - which was a beautiful golden ring with a rose made of red ruby. Luz felt happy as the pair left with a big smile on their faces.  A man also came in, browsing some engagement rings. Owlbert helped Luz with the customer, leaving both satisfied. Time passed and she slowly became more confident in what she did, hearing the people that walked in leave with a thank you felt nice.

The bell at the front door rang and Luz looked at the couple that walked in. The girl seemed skittish and uncomfortable as she quickly looked around. She had to look closely, but Luz was sure that she saw some bruises on her neck and under her eye. The guy looked irritated as he practically dragged the girl with him. 

He walked up to the counter and his voice was as unpleasant as the sound of a fork being dragged on a chalkboard. 

“I want two engagement rings. What do you have to offer, and make it quick.” 

Luz gulped and smiled, sweat building up at the side of her temple from how nervous she was. Eda’s voice rang from behind her.

“Ah, Luz, you need to sort the newly arrived letters. I’ll come to the back to show you how, it should go pretty quickly. Then you can help this kind sir with Owlbert, okay?”

The guy scoffed and rolled his eyes. Luz nodded and turned away, Eda looking back at the man while leading her away.

“I’m sure you can wait for a tiny bit, sir. She’s an apprentice and isn’t allowed to help customers alone and our other worker is busy at the moment.”

The door closed behind them and Eda’s face turned serious.

“I know this is a big favour to ask and I’ll give you anything you want after this, but I need you to distract that guy and buy some time while I call the cops. I’m waiting for Owlbert to finish with a customer so that he can help you.”

Luz was nervous, but she gulped and nodded.

“You’re calling the cops because that guy seems dangerous, right? The girl looks like the slightest sound scares her.”

Eda nodded and dialed the cops. They answered quickly and told them they were on their way to her shop. Luz was pacing around and fidgeting with her fingers.

“Hey Eda? When do I know that Owlbert is finished?”

She looked at her mentor - practically her second mother - with a worried expression.

“I’ll go to the customer to keep him from leaving while you stay here until he comes in.”

Eda left, leaving Luz alone. She paced around and checked her phone multiple times. A knock came from the door and Owlbert peeked in again, motioning for her to come with him. She inhaled and followed him, seeing the guy standing there, tapping his foot on the floor. 

Owlbert sent her a message to say out loud.

“ _Hello, sir. What can we help you with?_ ”

The man huffed and crossed his arms.

“I want two engagement rings.”

Luz nodded and read the next message, coming off as calm and relaxed even if she was having a screaming match in her head.

“ _What kind of ring do you want, sir? Do you or the miss have any allergies, or any wishes? We offer a lot of different types of rings, from simple and cheap to elaborate and expensive._ ”

He hummed and turned to the girl that flinched away from him.

“What do you want, Alice? You know our budget.”

The girl - Alice - gulped and made herself smaller. 

“Y-you know that I’ll go along with anything you choose, Mathew. I don’t mind.”

He turned back to Luz and Owlbert with an icy glare. Luz smiled, trying to come off as friendly as possible.

“You sell real jewelry, right? No fakes? I’m allergic to those fake rings that make me want to punch whoever invented them. I’ll look at those.”

She nodded as an agreement and spared a quick glance at Alice.

“Of course, sir. _We only sell real jewelry. Now if you may follow us to the engagement rings, we’ll show you your options._ ”

The front door opened and a policeman came in. Mathew hadn’t noticed him yet, so Luz kept him busy while Owlbert sneakily pointed at the man. Luz sighed in relief as Mathew was cuffed. The officer had to restrain the guy as he was kicking and screaming profanities. He accidentally spilled everything when the girl started crying as she told them why they were actually here. He was brought away and the girl was taken to the nearest hospital.

Luz had to sit down after all of that happened. Owlbert excused himself and went to give himself some time to breathe. Eda sat next to her and gently patted her on the back to comfort her.

“I’m sorry Kiddo. This was supposed to be a fun day with you ma’. To be honest with you… me and Cami have been seeing how sad you are when you come home. We wanted to do something together as a family, but Cami had to go to work; this was the next best thing I could come up with.”

She shook her head.

“Don’t blame yourself for this, okay? You couldn’t know that a douche would come in and you’d have to call the cops on him. I guess you’re right about me being a bit down, I’m blaming school for that by the way. Things are going better now, though. I really appreciate all the effort you two put into lifting my spirits up.”

Eda smiled gently, then it turned into a mischievous grin.

“Well you seem to be happier after you and that Blight girl have been hanging out more. Could it be that my little owlet has a _crush_?”

Luz blushed and flailed her hands around. She was stuttering a lot before she found her words again.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! _Me_? A crush on Amity? In my- _your_! Your dreams!”

Eda began laughing and wheezing, the cute display lifting the gloomy mood again. 

Owlbert opened the door and walked in, something in the hand that wasn’t holding his phone.

‘ _I found something neat! I want to give it to luz because she was such a pleasant coworker and did such a good job today. You don’t get paid anyways so this is the least I can do._ ’

He put a shard in her lap and smiled. She was pleasantly surprised, but also shocked. Luz scrambled to get her phone and typed a response.

‘ _!!! Thank you so so much, Owlbert! That’s so nice of you I can’t even!! Where did you even find this?_ ’

He chuckled and waved his hand nonchalantly.

‘ _I just found it while going on a little walk. It looked interesting, so I’m glad you like it :)_ ’

Eda chuckled and waved to get their attention, then started signing.

“ _I think that it’s fine if we’ll close the shop earlier than expected. I’ll see you on tuesday, Owlbert._ ”

He waved them goodbye and Eda closed the shop. They went in the car and drove home. Camila heard the car park and waited for them at the front door, helping them with their jackets.

“Mija, mi amor! You’re back earlier than what you planned.”

Eda looked surprised, humming as an agreement.

“Yeah, something came up. By the way, I thought you had work today?”

Camila chuckled and walked back to the kitchen - it smelled like Luz’s favourite dish.

“They originally wanted me to work today because a coworker wanted to take the day off, but she showed up to work anyway. So they sent me home early! I wanted to surprise Mija with her favourite for lunch, but I guess both our plans didn’t quite work out, heh?”

She went to snoop around the kitchen, and her mother told her - and she quotes - “ _if you’re going to sneak around, then help me in the kitchen, Mija_ ”. 

They finished preparing lunch and after the table was set, they dug in. The delicious flavours were a delight for her taste buds and the texture was just perfect. They finished lunch in peace, even cracking a few jokes here and there. Luz went up to her room and took her pocket mirror out, opening it.

Lus was smiling and waving at her.

“Hey there! It’s been a while, my dear. How’s it going? I know you’ve been getting more shards.”

Luz sat down on her bed and held the tiny mirror in her hands.

“I’m doing well! Thanks for asking. I was already getting worried about you! You said you’d use this to talk with me, but this is the first time in this whole week that you actually did. Oh I’ve also collected seven shards, which means that I’m almost finished!”

The girl in the mirror hummed and looked to the side, a pensive look in her eyes.

“Have things been too easy for you? I mean… I have been keeping an eye on what you do, it’s the whole point of this, hehe. I’ll adjust the difficulty, if you want.”

Luz laughed awkwardly and swatted her hand around, not really wanting this to be harder.

“No thanks, Lus! I think this is already hard enough. I mean, I don’t even have a clue about the two last shards.”

Lus shrugged and mumbled an okay, the pocket mirror then closing on it’s own. 

Luz leaned back on her soft pillows and sighed. She looked at the seventh shard on her desk and then closed her eyes. She should probably merge it with the rest, but a nap couldn’t hurt. Sleep took her to a pretty dream, where everything was like before.

  
  


**Shard 7 of 9.**


	13. Missed opportunities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mild unconvenience for Eda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup. I'm not totally posting this after midnight, but I didn't sleep yet so it's still sunday for me. And it's sunday in america. 
> 
> ...yeah. 
> 
> Updates every sunday! (Note to self, please don't overwork yourself)

Amity hugged her - she started doing that everytime they said goodbye - as her older siblings showed up to drive her home. That left her, Gus, and Willow waiting for their parents to come and get them. Gus and her were talking about a new videogame character for “Hyper Hit Bros” while Willow was scrolling through her phone.

A car honked and a person cheerfully said, “Hey Willow! Tell Gus that he’ll stay with us for a few hours. His parents aren’t home yet!” He waved goodbye and walked away with Willow.

Luz pulled her phone out and leaned on the wall, scrolling through “Penstagram”. She got a message from Eda, telling her to come over at the shop because there had been an issue. Luz wondered what it could be. Did Eda need her help in carrying something? Owlbert had the day off and Eda… well she wasn’t that young anymore. 

She grabbed her backpack and started walking towards the jewelry store, and she was lucky that it wasn’t far away. Suddenly, Luz heard someone raise their voice so much that she heard it from a few houses away. She sprinted in a slight panic, worried that something dangerous was happening at the shop. She kicked the front doors open.

“What’s going on?! I heard someone shout!”

Luz was slightly panting, sweating from the slight adrenaline boost. Eda looked glad that she was here, meanwhile a rather… _big_ guy huffed at her, unnerved by her presence. 

"There is nothing to worry about; the shop is closed anyways. We're discussing business plans, so scram."

Eda perked up and glanced at Luz.

"Hey kid, glad you could make it. Put your stuff down and come here. I need a witness if he decides to scam me." 

Luz blinked slowly - confused about the situation - and did as told. There was another guy standing there, having arrived as she went to the back. The older man glared at her with a smirk.

"I'm sure you won't mind if I have a witness for myself too, right? This is my apprentice, Nevareth. Anyways, let’s get down to business. I don’t understand why you don’t want to combine our shops! My store has many customers and yours has a good name, especially after yesterday.”

Eda’s eye twitched as she tried not to let her nerves get the better of her, and she tapped her foot on the wooden floor.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Adegast? That’s because you sell fake jewelry; you know that I despise those kinds of shops. There is nothing worse than to sell fakers, so you can go home and never come back.”

Luz was listening eagerly, curious about the conflict. She’s glad that Eda wouldn’t just sell her shop over. Adegast rolled his eyes and waved his hand around, Nevereth staring at Luz with an apologetic look.

“You’re always so drastic, Edalyn! I’m _sure_ we can come to an agreement. Your shop’s name is already going around as a safe space, but you still don’t have so many customers. Meanwhile, I have a lot of clients; my shop doesn’t have the best reputation out there despite all of my efforts. We could be a power couple if we work together.”

She jumped up and flinched slightly when Eda banged her fists on the table, Adegast apparently did too. 

“This is my last warning! Go away and stop asking for this, or else I will actually call the police. For what? Harassment. You keep coming back, again and again, while also adding some inappropriate comments! It is known that I’m in a happy relationship, but you still go on about being a ‘ _power couple_ ’ and ‘ _making me truly happy_ ’. Like who do you think you are!? Get _out_!”

Luz blinked, mouth agape at the raw display of power from Eda. That was so badass of her mom! Adegast frowned and shook his head.

“You’ll regret this.”

Adegast grabbed Neverath’s arm and dragged him away, leaving the shop. Eda sighed and rubbed her temple. She slowly paced around and then turned to Luz.

“I’m closing the shop for today. We could go eat ice cream? We can also get some for Cami, how does that sound?”

Luz nods eagerly, with a big and radiant smile on her face.

“That sounds delicious! Let’s go!”

Luz grabbed her things and Eda put them in the car, locking it to stop anyone from stealing the more important things like her math homework. They started walking around, Eda criticizing some very expensive shops. Someone had to collect her jaw, because it definitely hit the ground when she read that a watch was as expensive as _5000.00€_ , like who would even pay that much? She could literally buy a good, cheap watch for 5.00€ at the store.

There was a nice cozy bakery that they passed on the way to the ice cream shop, she’ll try to remember that in case she’s somehow still stuck here. 

Luz got a strawberry-blueberry mix and Eda got a mango-banana combo. They both sat down at the table and continued chatting. Eda leaned her head on one hand and looked at her, slightly more serious than before.

“So how was school, kid? Better than last week?”

Luz waved her hand around, trying to physically wave the awkwardness away.

“Yeah! Now that I’m friends with Amity and Gus things have been going better! I feel less lonely and people stopped seeing me as the school clown. It really feels great.”

She cringed a tiny bit at the sudden thought of school.

“Uhm. But is it okay for me to go around the town and eat ice cream instead of doing my homework?” 

“It’s the second week of school and a monday. I’m sure you don’t have that much homework. I’ll help you with it, if anything.”

“Uh… well, you got a point. Let’s have fun, then!”

Eda smiled, feeling proud and content.

“Hehe, I know. Let’s go, kid.”

They finished their ice cream cones and stood up. Luz saw a familiar face near the coffee shop and recognized it as Neverath. Apparently, he recognized her too and began approaching her. Waving at them with a smile.    
  
“Hey! You’re the girl from Eda’s shop, right? It was kinda intense, to be honest. I personally think that Adegast goes too far in his attempts, but he’s trying his best… I think.”

He shrugs and Luz snorts, this guy seems more laid back. Urgh, she can’t forget that he was one of Adegast’s puppets on the Boiling Isle. Who knows if he can actually be trusted.

“Yeah? Well I think there are some limits, he should look after those a bit more.”

Neverath nods and pouts, then looks at the time.

“Oh _shoot_! Boss gave me ten minutes to go around and rest- I want to give you something before you go.”

He puts another shard in Luz’s hands and grins.

“If you ever rethink your answer then we’ll gladly accept. This is to remind you, Bye!”

Eda leans over her shoulder and throws a questioning look at her after the guy left.

“This looks… suspiciously like the thing Owlbert gave you. Is it a new trendy jewelry piece or what?”

Luz laughs nervously and waves her hand around. Like a totally normal person would do in this specific situation.

“I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. They don’t look the same, anyways! They’re just… the same model? Haven’t seen anyone with these yet.”

Sweat ran down her temples as Eda narrowed her eyes, but then shrugged - lifting a heavy weight from her shoulders. 

“Sure. Well, it’s getting late for us too. It’s best if we go back home, come on kid.”

Luz looked back and smiled before catching up with Eda, who was already walking away. She enjoyed her walk as different birds flew by, others sang and some walked around. The city looked really pretty in the orange light of the sunset, especially all the trees and flowers that they passed until they saw Eda’s car. She got in and they drove back to their house. Her mother was waiting for them, a smile on her face. They hugged and Luz changed to her attire for home.

A soft hoodie and comfortable pants, of course. Only the best for a Monday. 

To have some fun, they watched a movie while preparing dinner. Luz felt at peace in this moment, happy with her - even if not real - family. They played a few rounds of “Uno” to spend some time together, letting time pass by as they had fun. She grabbed her phone and perked up at a few new messages, most of them coming from Amity. She gave a small wave as a goodbye to her parents and then walked upstairs. 

Luz sat on a chair in her room and began texting Amity, occasionally scrolling through a random app. She glanced at her phone’s clock and got a slight heart attack. Her parents would be mad if they knew she was still awake at this hour! She quickly prepared her clothes for tomorrow and brushed her teeth. 

She had tucked herself under her covers and turned the lights off when she sprang up from her comfortable position. 

“ _Oh no_! Dang it- I forgot I had homework!”

**Shard 8 of 9.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody is there, not even a microphone. A note was all that there could be found, so the reader picked it up and read it.
> 
> 'Hello dear reader, if you're reading this then it means that I'm having a lot of tests at school. Sucks for me, but it means that there could sometimes be a delay when I release a new chapter.
> 
> ...I try my best, but I also need to look after my academic studies. So anyways! Sorry for the shortest chapter of them all, I think? Wasn't really paying attention to the word count, honestly. Oh this is the last fluffy chapter you're getting in a good while, by the way.'
> 
> \- Your dear author, with love and headpats, Mirudoki


	14. Magic Tricks and Treats [Halloween special]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a regular, good ol' Halloween chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! I hope you haven't been going around for Halloween, and if you did? Then I hope you wore a mask. Nothing is scarier than a virus going around. So stay safe, okay?
> 
> Updates on every sunday! And yes, this sunday too.

Amity looked in the mirror one last time before she had to go. Luz invited her, Gus and Willow to go around the town for Trick or Treat. She’s been having weird dreams after meeting Luz and she’s been forgetting some normal everyday concepts even though she was sure what they meant.

Halloween for example. When Luz asked her if she wanted to tag along, she asked her friend ‘what’. Just a simple ‘what’, nothing more.. Luz understood that as ‘What? Why would I go around in a costume’ instead of ‘What’s Halloween, again?’. Amity had to listen to Luz giving her at least 10 reasons to go with her.  She agreed to come of course. Well, she’d have to stay home and deal with Emira and Edric and who would want to put up with those two? They will certainly pull pranks everywhere.

Currently sneaking out of her parent’s mansion with a bag that held her costume in her hands, she made her way to Luz’s residence. 

The black haired girl was waiting at the door and waved at her when she saw Amity approach their home. Luz wasn't wearing her costume yet, which meant that she wanted to do a surprise reveal.  She was already giddy at the thought of hanging out with her cr- friend.

Amity turned red, wishing she could stop being so obvious, but Luz either didn't notice or didn't care about it. 

"Hey, Ammy! It’s so cool that you could come! Gus and Willow will show up later in costume, but I thought it’d be nice if we change here and then go. Will your siblings drive you home after we’re done or do you want us to escort you, my dear princess?”

The Latina girl bowed down as a dramatic effect, but ended up giggling. It made her laugh as well, Luz was just so full of energy that Amity couldn't help it. She walked up to her and quickly embraced her in a hug. They separated and Luz let her in. She quickly said a hello before she was dragged to Luz's room.

"Okay, so I couldn't decide between two costumes. One of the classics, a pirate." Luz held up the costume in her left hand. "The other one is my favourite. An otter! ...with a _dark_ side." 

Amity blinked in surprise as Luz held an onesie of an otter while wiggling her eyebrows. Swallowing an odd feeling of Deja-vu she pointed her pointy finger to the pirate outfit.

"I think it fits your vibe better, especially for Halloween. The otter onesie is better for cuddly sleepovers." 

The teen nodded, agreeing with her.

"Guess you're right, Ammy. What are you going as?" 

Amity opened her bag, taking a witch costume out that resembled Azura. She flattened it a bit and laid it down on the bed. Luz had stars in her eyes upon seeing her favourite characters dress.

"Oh my god, you're going as the good witch Azura! That's so awesome, I wish I came up with such a good idea like that… Well, I don't have an Hecate dress, so maybe next time!" 

She sat down and spread herself on the sheets. Luz had a surprisingly big bed. Amity turned her head and smiled.

"Honestly, I thought you would dress up as Azura too, for some reason. Pirates are cool too though!" 

Luz laughed softly, then sat down next to her. She must've noticed how tired she was from the look on her face. Amity closed her eyes and felt soft and big hands go through her hair.

"Did you have trouble with sleeping? You look like you're about to fall asleep any moment now." 

The youngest Blight sibling sighed and snuggled closer. She was too comfortable to fully open her mouth, so most of her words were lost to deaf ears.

"Hmm… ki...da…? You…r… war... hmm…"

The warmth coming from her side lulled her to start dreaming. The silence and homey surroundings only strengthening her want to sleep, but Luz gently shook her awake.

"Hey, Ammy? Come on, we still need to go Trick or Treating. We can take a nice and long nap once we come back…" 

She moved to lie on Luz's lap, only for the Latina to bow down right next to her ear and whisper softly.

"Wake up or I'll kiss you."

That jolted her awake pretty fast, her face burning just at the thought of a kiss. Their heads bonked each other as Amity wanted to sit back up. They both rubbed their forehead to alleviate the pain, and Luz started laughing. 

“Okay maybe that was a bad move on my side. We should get dressed now, huh? Willow and Gus are coming over soon.”

Amity stood up and grabbed her bag, then turned to Luz.

“Is it okay if I change in the bathroom?”

Luz beamed her a thumbs up and grabbed the pirate outfit. Amity opened the door and started to change into her costume, the dress making everything easier for her. When she got back - fully dressed in the signature clothes of Azura - she saw that her friend struggled to tie the laces on her back. Luz was running around in circles when she approached her.

“Do… you need help?”

Luz turned to look at her with wide eyes and a slight blush on her cheeks. It was kinda cute, but she’d never admit that.

“U-uh… Yeah that’d be nice, actually.”

Amity did quick work with tying everything together. She took a step back to admire Luz in her costume. It fit her perfectly, the whole vibe and the fitting. A tiny bit of hair stuck out from the vibrant red bandana, a white and black striped shirt peeked out from a brown vest and light brown pants pulled the whole outfit together. God, she’d let Luz steal her heart anytime she wanted…

The doorbell rang downstairs and Luz perked up, sprinting down the stairs and leaving Amity there. A light caught her eye, making her turn around to see the mirror that was almost finished. An unpleasant feeling in her gut made her frown, so she left the room and walked downstairs too. Gus and Luz were chatting happily, while Willow had a smile small on her face as she leaned on the wall. He wore a ninja costume and she was dressed up as a vampire. Willow noticed her and waved a little, she waved back.

Eda in a knight costume came from the kitchen with a bunch of bags, probably for the candy that they'll get. Camila the queen followed suit with a bowl filled with candy, chocolate and clementine. Amity became a bag that said 'Hello-wenn' and had a smiling pumpkin printed on it.

"Okay kids, I'll be the one escorting you to make sure your parents won't kick me in the shins for losing you. Can I here will instead stay home for any possible emergency. You got your bags?"

Everyone nodded enthusiastically, feeling pumped up for tonight. This was going to be so much fun! 

"Good! Then let's go. Hop, hop and into the car with you, you little rascals."

Amity was a bit slower than the rest and turned around to wave goodbye at Luz's mother when she saw Eda give Camila a chaste kiss on the lips. It was… nice, even wholesome to see an affectionate display of love. Her mother never kissed her father as long as she remembered. She smiled and ran to catch up with the rest of the group. Luz held the car door open for her.

"Hey there, Amity! I saved you a seat."

Her cheeks reddened and she smiled, taking a seat in the back.

"Thanks Luz, that's really nice of you." 

"Hehe, I'd do that anytime for you. I'm your fearless champion, after all."

The hazelnut haired girl blinked, the feeling of a Deja-vu coming back. She smiled slightly.

"Yeah… my fearless champion."

Gus sat at the far right, she was in the middle and Luz sat to her left. Willow turned around and offered them some hips while they waited for Eda to show up. Turns out that they didn't have to wait for a long time. The older woman sat at the wheel and started the car. 

It was a quick ride to Bonesborough, Eda parking at her shop. They got off and already saw groups of kids and teens running around and knocking at doors for candy. Amity gazed at the lights coming from all around her. 

This was her first time going Trick or Treating, her parents always forbid her even if her father sometimes tried to convince her mother. Luz took her hand and began to walk, grinning widely. Gus and Willow had their arms hooked and Eda was walking behind them. 

Amity and Luz were leading the way to the nearest house. They rang the bell and an elderly woman greeted them.

"Oh! Children, what a delight. Here, dears, I'll give you some sweets." 

The woman came back with a bowl filled with candies and some apples.

"There you go. Your costumes are wonderful! Where are you planning to go next?"

Luz let go of Amity's hand and pointed at a narrower but still lit street. The elder widened her eyes and shook her head.

"I advise you not to go there, children. There are rumours that there occur weird and unexplainable things in that street. Footsteps follow you but nobody's there when you turn around. Whispers are everywhere despite there being no wind and some even said that there was someone watching them."

Amity frowned at such a classic Halloween tale. Were they supposed to be scared? It's most likely a bunch of kids pulling pranks on groups.

"Thanks for the warning miss," She hooked her arm with Luz's. ", we'll keep that in mind. Have a nice day!" 

The woman smiled and went back inside. Amity led them away and Eda marched an eyebrow at that behaviour.

"Hey kid, is everything alright?"

She turned around and frowned, clearly uncomfortable.

"That story was obviously made up, right? There is _no way_ that it was real, she just wanted to scare us or something." 

Luz put her big, soft hands on Amity's shoulders and smiled with a determined expression at her.

"Hey it's fine if you're scared, I'll protect you! I can go ahead if you want." 

The witch huffed and poured, not wanting to admit that she was unnerved. She glanced back at Luz as she crossed her arms and looked to the ground.

"...Sure. But you're the one who offered!" 

Luz laughed, which made her blush. They held hands again and went ahead in the somewhat creepy street. 

A shiver went up Amity's spine when she took a step in that direction, but went on. She was sure that Willow turned around more than once to check if someone was following them,even holding onto Gus once. Luz instead looked so brave, as if she didn't feel any of this. No shadows or whispers. T here was a dark figure in front of them, only two white dots as their eyes. An ominous aura coming off of them. Luz held her hand tighter and continued to walk. Amity was scared now, but followed her friend. She trusted her instincts and held onto the hand like a lifeline. 

" **Are you not scared, child of light?** " 

The monster's voice was an echo of a thousand souls, holding authority and demanding respect. Luz grinned and shook her head.

"Nope! It wasn't that hard to figure out that you feed off on fear. You always come out on Halloween and scare people with your eerie tricks! So all I have to do is to not be afraid." 

Her eyes widened at the revelation. The monster just chuckled and dispersed in the air, leaving a little kid behind.

"Hello! It's been so long since I met someone like you! It's impressive, miss pirate. I'll let you pass if you bring me along for trick or treating, see it as my parting wish!"

Amity felt her hand being let go of and saw Luz bow down to pet the child on their head. She wasn't scared anymore when the little guy beamed with happiness. Luz grabbed one hand and she grabbed the other. Willow, Gus and Eda got closer when they realized that there was nothing to be scared of. 

There was a lone house at the end of the street, lights on and pumpkins all around. The child ran forward to knock, but they diffused into many bright lights before they got there, leaving them with a smile. A young woman with a sad expression opened the door with a hopeful voice.

"Max did you come b- oh… guests? We haven't had any kids come for trick or treating ever since… ever since our son went missing. Hold on please, I'll get you some candy before you go." 

Amity stared at the woman. She put some chocolate bars in their hands and tiredly smiled at them. They thanked her and left a bit unsure of what to make out of this situation. She swallowed her nervousness down and grabbed Luz's hand once more.

"Do you think…?" 

Luz looked back at her and nodded slowly. She bit her lip and looked inwards, deciding to go a faster pace.

"Come on, all that candy won't collect itself! Let's have a fun night together, that's why we're here!" 

She admired the pirate's grin, loving the cheerful expression she wore. Willow and Gus were hanging around Eda, but that wasn't an issue. 

And she'd never tell anyone, but the cute blush that Luz had when they got too close would always stay in her mind for the rest of the night.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Author tapped their microphone to hear them better, since they're wearing a mask.
> 
> "Okay, so I have a one week vacation now. Which is perfect since we're in the red now. Like, can't people go on without parties? I sure can, but I'm also socially active on a non physical plattform, huh. Anyways, please stay safe and remember to keep the distance! Toodles and until tomorrow!"


	15. Blackout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith appears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry for the late upload... I had too many things to do and I couldn't find a beta reader in time because I only got internet at a very very late time in the night :(
> 
> Updates on every sunday! Sorry if they're sometimes late.

It was already Sunday, Luz's week already gone in the blink of an eye. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday weren't really interesting, probably the most normal days she's had since she woke up in this world. Friday though? It was a delight due to Amity. They hung out - _without_ it being related to school! - and had a sleepover. 

She was now eating breakfast with her parents and King. Pancakes for them and some dog treats for him. 

A knock on the door startled them; nobody expecting any guests or packages. Whoever waited outside was getting impatient, very well audible from the frantic knocking. Eda got up and hastily made her way to give the stranger a piece of her mind, but she fell silent as Luz saw her open the door.

"Edalyn."

She couldn't see a lot from her position, but she certainly heard that Eda was getting defensive based on her voice.

"Lilith. What are you doing here? How did you even find me? We haven't talked in over ten _years_!"

"I heard the news about last week and wanted to check on you. You had an apprentice with you, yes? I was worried about you, I'm sure that it was a very stressful situation. Oh, and your address was leaked in the article."

Luz saw Eda shake her head and sigh. The older woman stood to the side to let her sister in.

"Come in before I change my mind."

Luz stood up from her seat to lean on the table. She wanted to get a better look at the Lilith in this universe. The first thing that caught her eye was the curly, wild, and untamed black hair. Seems like Lilith still dyed her hair, but also kept her glasses. 

They made eye contact and Lilith smiled sweetly at her.

"Ah, hello. I'm Edalyn's older sister, Lilith. I don't know if she talked about me, but it is my pleasure to meet you."

Luz hopped around the table and stood in front of her aunt, eyes wide with curiosity. 

"Nice to meet you too! I'm Luz, I live here." 

She was hugged in a swift motion, and definitely heard that kind of fangirling sound when you see a cute puppy.

"Oh you're so cute! I have a niece, I can’t believe Edalyn didn't get back in contact to tell me funny and embarrassing stories about you! Who knows how much I missed as an aunt, aww."

She hugged back and looked over at Eda, who was fuming. Her mother looked confused at the scene, not really knowing how to interfere. Eda stomped over and tapped her foot impatiently on the floor.

"Now, now. You're here to talk about the article and not to gush about Camila and my child." 

Luz was released from the crushing grip. She gulped after she heard her Mom talk with such an icy tone. Lilith sighed and crossed her arms.

"Fine, it is the initial reason for my visit so I might as well go on with that. For some reason, the article included rather private information - I made sure to censor it after it came to my eye - and I was worried about you. I know that you always valued keeping your business and private life apart. I know that we had a pretty bad fallout, but that doesn't stop me from caring about my little sister." 

She was pretty sure that Eda actually looked disgusted. The adult marched angrily towards her older sister and jabbed her with her finger on the chest.

"Since when did you care about me being your little sister, huh? Couldn't you care when you pulled that reckless stunt at the police academy? I won't say that I'm mad for you being the reason that I left - I'm not! I'm actually _glad_! - but I'm still pissed for you doing what you did! I thought you had my back." 

Lilith took a step back, horrified by Eda's words.

"I was young, naive and scared! I thought they wouldn't take me in-"

"You were scared because I was better!"

She could only watch as the scene heated up until both exploded with all their leftover emotions from so many years ago. Luz took a step back, standing and gripping onto her mother for support. Lilith took a step forward, tears falling down her face.

"I _know_ that you were better than me! That's exactly the reason why I was scared! They obviously would have picked you, who _wouldn't_ have?! Do you think that I don’t regret what happened every day?" 

The room went silent, the only thing that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the Clawthorne sisters. The older one turned around.

"You know what, I can see that I'm not welcome at all. It was a mistake coming to check up on you."

Luz stared, mouth agape and eyes wide. Her mother took some wary steps towards her mom and embraced her in a hug. She decided to go after Lilith to hear her out.

She found her crouching outside on a nearby path, crying and sobbing to herself. Family issues must be hard to deal with for both family members. Luz kneeled next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey… uh… do you want to talk about it? I'm willing to listen. If you want, of course."

Lilith looked up to her and wiped her tears away.

"Sure… well I guess that I should start from the beginning. Me and Edalyn had a dumb dream, I guess. We wanted to work at the same place, with the same job at the same position. It's like the moment you and your best friend want to do everything together, but you're two different people with different dreams and personalities and talents. You can't expect that to work out, but two teenage girls don't think about that; we thought about how cool it would be. But there came a time where we had to make a choice-"

Luz patted her on the shoulder when a sob escaped her throat, the older sister smiled at her in gratitude. 

"I had to choose between my sister and my future. Maybe it was a mistake, but I wanted my future to be secure and thus ignored any consequences for our friendship. I... regret breaking her leg every day and night ever since, but I never know how to make it up to her…" 

The young girl cringed at the new revelation, but also felt bad for her aunt.

"Did you, I don't know, try to apologise?" 

Lilith blinked. Luz blinked back. They both sat there on the grass in silence.

"Are you serious? You didn't ever try to say sorry? Never in your whole life, did you think that you should apologise?" 

The grown woman waved her arms in a hasty manner, trying to dispute that claim.

"No! No. I did think of apologising, but it didn't seem like that would be enough. Like, if someone you cared about broke your leg and then came to you and said 'oh sorry I broke your leg, are we good now?', would you forgive them?"

Luz shook her head and frowned.

"I think that saying sorry is better than nothing, though. Well, enough grumbling around, let's go back inside. We'll figure this out, okay?"

She stood up and stretched her hand towards her aunt, then pulled her up. They both walked back inside to see Camila calming Eda down, whispering soft and encouraging words. Luz fake coughed to gain their attention. Lilith spoke before she even opened her mouth.

"I'm sorry. I know it's late, but I never knew how to say it. The right time never came and it always seemed like it would never be enough, but I realized that not saying sorry at all is worse than leaving things be. It was selfish of me and it doesn't excuse what I did, but I hope we can start again. I really miss you, Edalyn."

Luz stood to the side and watched as Eda broke the hug with her mother to stand in front of her sister with a melancholic smile.

"You don't know how long I waited for you to say those words, Lily. I'm willing to give this a chance. We could catch up in the living room?" 

Lilith nodded and the sisters left Luz and Camila there. Her mother turned to her with a serious expression, making her feel as if she did something wrong.

"Mija, I know that you've been collecting those shards. Don't do it, you can't trust her. _Please_ believe me cariño, I'm only trying to protect you. I know you want to go home, but I'm sure we can find another way." 

Luz is terrified. How does her mami know about Lus? And giving up despite being so close to going home was unthinkable for her. She took a few steps back, confused and afraid. Camila looked worried at her, as if she was scared too.

Her mother's arm that reached for her glitched and she saw a patch of lavender scales on her fingers. A headache started to build at her temple, slowly becoming unbearable.

Lilith came back with a shard in her pocket. Luz didn't actually hear her talk, but picked up on the notice that her aunt wanted to give her a gift as a sign of gratitude. Apparently, Eda told her that she has been collecting necklaces with shards that looked like mirrors. 

Her headache got worse as Lilith dangled the shard right in front of her.

"Luz, no!"

She grabbed the necklace and a maniacal laugh rang out. It sounded menacing and hysterical, hurting her ears.  Luz's eyes closed and the floor under her feet disappeared. 

Everything went black.

  
  
**Shard 9 of 9.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Hey there readers, how are you? Don't worry, I'm not going on a hiatus. That would be too evil, I guess. Not really my style. See you next week! Toodles."


	16. New hopes and dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz gets help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello! How's everyone doing?? Remember to wear your mask when you go out, guys and stay safe! Link to the discord server is at the end of the chapter.
> 
> Updates on every sunday!

She felt a familiar feeling when she regained consciousness, the headache now gone. Her eyes slowly opened to see the same inky black void from when she met Lus, except she was holding her weight on her hands instead of floating. Steps echoed from her left, but Luz looked up - curious about the heavy breathing that her ears picked up - and saw Amity.

Luz didn’t understand why Amity was here - one ear pointy and one ear round - and she didn’t want to at the moment. The Latina started to crawl towards her friend, reaching out to her when a boot kicked her hand away. Lus stood in between them, looking down at Luz with a smug and lazy grin on her face and hands in her pockets.

“‘Sup, lovebirds. Seems like you did it, _darling_! I mean, you wouldn’t be here otherwise, even if I don’t really know why your little girlfriend is here. It’s supposed to be just you and me, but it won’t make much of a difference. I’m surprised you haven’t tried using your glyphs at all, actually! Not like you can use them now, that would be counterproductive for what I’ll do.”

  
The young witch's apprentice looked up with a shocked expression, a cold shiver going down her spine as she saw the maniacal look in Lus’ eyes. The older teen crouched in front of her, keeping eye contact and made a pitying face.

“Come on, don’t look at me like that. Didn’t you see this coming? Your mommy never told you to not trust strangers, huh? Well I was almost too late! That pesky little siren would’ve ruined my plans again… but that doesn’t matter.”

She shielded herself with her arms, but Lus didn’t grab her. She grabbed the now fully restored mirror behind her and held it up to gaze at it. It shone and blinded Luz temporarily even if there was no light source. Lus stood back up, grinning at her.

“Not saying anything? _Haha_ , it’s understandable! I did make both of you mute for the time being, I don’t really have the time for a longer chit chat. Bye bye, darling and have fun being stuck here instead of me!”

Lus placed the mirror and it began to grow until it was as big as her. She walked through and it broke, leaving Luz with an empty frame. No shards, no mirror.

No way out.

She felt a hand on her shoulders, Amity looking up at her with questioning eyes.

“Luz? I heard everything, are you okay? I didn’t think that things would go this way when you told me about the shards…”

Without really thinking about it, she tackled her friend in a hug and started crying. Sobs and hiccups escaped her throat, holding onto the only person that was familiar to her. The only constant thing right now. Amity hugged and drew circles on her back, trying to soothe her in this heartbreaking moment. There was a chilling wind coming from everywhere around them, making them hold each other tighter. It was a weird place, somewhere Luz didn’t want to stay. Nothing to do, nothing to see but Amity and her hands and no place to go to her family. 

A voice calling for her echoed in this empty space, calming her down ever so slightly and replacing the sadness with confusion. Amity - who still embraced her in a hug - shouted back, calling for help. Luz saw some sort of lavender siren approach in the distance after she wiped her eyes from salty tears.

“Oh my god- _NO_! I’m too late... I’m so sorry! I didn’t even notice that a new dreamer entered our world of illusions until it was too late! How could I be so careless?”

Luz let go of Amity and tapped on the person’s shoulder, confused about the whole situation.

“Uh, hi? Who are you?”

The woman that looked like a genie turned to blink her. She had tiny fangs that ended right on her lower lips, short claws that she clicked together in an anxious manner and was overall pretty much the color purple. Lavender skin, violet hair and purple eyes. Luz was convinced that the creature standing in front of her was also a siren due to the finns, scales and gills that stopped right at her waist. It looked more like her body was made of a clear smoke, perhaps a cloud? She stumbled with her words a bit, but Luz didn’t mind.

“A-ah! Yeah uh my name is Dealla. I’m your assigned guide on how to navigate the illusion world, actually. B-but I… I’m so sorry, I’ll explain what happened later. I- w-well it might be better if you come with me? This is the void, also known as the dream space a-and you might want to rest and eat? There is a town I can bring you to...”

She arched an eyebrow at the suggestion and looked at Amity. Her friend crossed her arms and frowned, suspicious of the creature in front of them.

“How do we know that you’re not going to trick us?”

Dealla sighed and cupped her hands, smoke forming in them. It made a tiny explosion and a tiny brochure appeared. She handed it to Amity and floated back, keeping the distance.

“Well instead of doing whatever Luz-”

The young witches gasped. Luz saw Amity put a hand to her mouth. She herself grimaced and stuttered before finding her words.

“But I’m Luz! That was Lus with an s!”

Dealla shook her head, hair swaying with the movement.

“No, I’m pretty sure that one was also a Luz. Tell me, do you know about alternate universes? I’m sure you do! You do read fanfiction and manga and all that stuff. Anyways, as I was saying. Instead of staying trapped in this void, I practically work in an agency. I’ll explain more as we go back to the town, I still need to report this to my boss.”

Luz exchanged a look with Amity and nodded to affirm the other. They held hands as they followed their guide. They didn’t have anything to lose anyways, already in a bunch of nothing. Dea moved her hands around, a bright white line forming the shape of a door. It opened to reveal a blueish forest landscape. Big glowing mushrooms lit everything up, letting Luz see that there was a lively city with creatures that looked like Dea roaming around. The houses looked like musk covered cottages, some shops having a more modern look though.

It was breathtaking, actually. Luz glanced at Amity and saw her eyes shine in wonder. She sort of dragged her friend behind her as they took everything in, still following Dealla.

“Our city doesn’t really have a name since it’s the only city. There are different departments though! There are the farming, trading, living, business and the mirror districts. We’re going to the business district, that’s where I work.”

She looked at all the passing people. Some were wearing accessories, but nobody wore actual clothes like Amity and herself. It brought up some questions about their guide’s species.

“Miss Dealla? Can you tell us about your race? I’m pretty sure I haven’t met anyone quite like you- oh! Also what do you guys do?! I’m surprised we haven’t heard much of this.”

The young adult - at least Luz thought she sounded like one - still floated towards her workplace, but turned to look at her while she explained. Dea smiled, so Luz smiled back.

“Our species - also known as Lumius - has been taking care of this place for millenia and is actually a hotspot for both exposure therapy and the people that want to experience a different life than what they have! Guess your universe isn’t that affiliated with other ones, hu- Oh we’re here!”

A tall building stood in front of them, lots of Lumius floating in and out with papers or drinks. Dealla made a shushing motion with a finger and led them inside to a higher floor - the receptionist not even batting an eye - where they had to wait in front of a rather big door. The red light next to the door turned green and it opened, revealing a Lumius woman sorting through papers.

“Ah! Dealla, I see you’re back. How did it go? I know that it’s uncommon to have unregistered visitors, but you always find a way to bring them home. I don’t know what we would do without you, honestly.”

Luz looked away and bit her lip, surprised but also finding this situation somewhat funny. Dea looked like she was asked to defuse a ticking time bomb.

“Ha...ha… _yeah_ so about that… You do remember the Luz from universe N.12? W-well… she tricked Luz N.13 to give her the only way out from that illusion world…”

The woman slowly turned to them, a neutral expression on her face. She took a deep breath and glanced at Luz, then at Amity. Luz herself did not find this funny at all anymore, she was number _what_ now?

“Okay. I get that. Bringing Luz N.12 home was not your job - it never was, you weren’t even working here when that happened at all - but why is Luz N.13’s Amity also here? I know that I should know more about this, but you’re the one that actually experiences all these things.”

Dealla was fidgeting with her fingers and Luz felt Amity’s hand clench tighter, so she turned only to see a very serious expression.

“Well, as far as I know? The only situation in which this can happen is if the mirror that was used to get here was broken or at the very least slightly damaged, which also brings the issue that we can’t use it to send them back. I’d say this Amity is a mixture between the essence of the real Amity and the one in the illusion. This actually happened once before, so her memories made in here will go to the real one if we’ll find a way to bring them back.”

Luz felt a shiver go down her spine. Amity got closer to her for comfort.

“W-wait! _If_? You said that this happened before, what happened to them?”

The boss pushed her glasses up and sighed, rendering the room silent before speaking up again.

“Miss Dealla, I’ll explain this one.”

The Lumius floated aside, letting Luz and Amity focus on what she knew would be a very long lecture about their history and probably very interesting information.

“I’m afraid that the other case isn’t quite like this one, Miss Noceda. I’ll also explain other universes for you, so you can understand how this whole ordeal works. There are many and almost infinite universes, in which we all live in. Except this one. Us Lumius are the only actual species in any galaxy that have access to all possible universes and let me tell you one thing, there is no original universe. Are you following?”

Both girls nodded, actually invested in the story.

“Good. We categorize universes based on their creation. We can access all of them thanks to the mirror district, that where Dealla rescued you from. Which brings me to the point of Luz N.12. We used to have an actually pretty good worker here, their name was Magister Erroris. I never minded the long name, but they had a weird way of guiding both customers and lost visitors. They used tricks and lies to get them to do anything they wanted, so we fired them. Any questions? Otherwise I’ll continue.”

Luz noticed Amity slowly rising her hand. The woman made a ‘ _go on_ ’ motion for her to ask the question.

“Could it be that they’re still alive? I’m not really sure, but I think I got the other Amity’s memories too and I think I saw someone with that name that looked like you guys.”

Both Lumius swallowed audibly, tension growing around the room. The boss started slowly pacing around.

“Oh no. Oh, oh creator this is really bad news. Very bad news! Magister was the reason why Luz N12. got trapped in the void and if the real Amity saw her and actually talked with her for long enough to catch their name then this can’t be good. Dealla, I’ll continue the story with our guests. Go to the elders and tell them it’s a code red, add that it’s _incredibly_ urgent!”

Dealla saluted and hastily floated away, leaving them in the room. Luz and Amity both shared a panicked feeling in their chests, sweat trailing down their temples. She spoke up as she moved her hands, trying to keep calm.

“What’s actually going on, miss? This is actually starting to worry us a lot!”

The Lumius took a few deep breaths and somehow crouched in front of them, motioning for them to sit down too. Which they did, of course.

“Okay, I’m going to tell you the story of Luz N.12 and what Magister has to do with it. There was always something strange with Magister, but things turned much worse when Luz N.12 showed up. She was also a lost visitor and Magister was supposed to guide her back home, but she never came back and Luz N. 12 stayed in the void for who knows how many years. Nobody could find a way to bring her back home, not like we actually could since she refused to come with us.”

She took a deep breath and continued, both girls still listening in wonder but also slight fear out of this mystery person.

“It’s… probably because something happened between them, but nobody ever knew what. The most important fact is that Magister was gone and Luz N.12 stayed. You two need to know something important. Two different but close universerses - Like universe 12 and 13 - can… somewhat merge together when in the void. The _real_ problem with sending you home is that you can either go to universe 13 or 14 and that’s because your mirror is cracked. Universe 12 is now off limits since the mirror you collected broke.”

The woman took her glasses off and rubbed her temples.

“Magister is a very dangerous Lumius and that’s because they’re an excellent liar. They don’t hesitate, their voice doesn’t waver. They’ll tell you something and you wouldn’t question if it was fake or real. I don’t know what their plan is; I can only assume that they were sick of being here and wanted to find a way out. But it didn’t work, so they’re trying something else and I’m afraid it has to do with you, Luz.”

She looked at Amity with a determined expression and grabbed her hand in hers.

“Well, I’m not alone! Magister won’t be able to fool us and we’ll fix everything that they messed up so that there won’t be any issue that’ll stop us! We can fix this together, Amity. I promise we’ll be home before you’ll know it.”

Her friend took her hands in hers and slowly nodded, becoming more determined by the second.

“We… We can fix this together. I’m by your side, Luz. We’ll go back home! We can do anything together.”

“Ah, sorry to interrupt your heartfelt moment, but I think it’s getting pretty late for the both of you. I can contact a friend of mine that works at a nearby hotel for you to stay the night, it includes breakfast by the way. We don’t really use money here, so if you’ll want to stay longer I suggest finding something to trade for your stay. Come see me in my office tomorrow, doesn’t matter when. I’ll bring you two to the place though, don’t worry.”

The Lumius stood up to her full height and led Luz and Amity away from her office. The hotel was actually at the edge of the business district, but not a lot of people were near it at all - something that Luz didn’t really expect. The woman was right, if she was honest. She did feel pretty tired after all she went through, it was a lucky coincidence that Amity was here with her.

They easily booked a room without issues, the guy at the counter being extremely nice and understanding of their situation. They both settled in and prepared themselves to turn in for the night. She was out like a light when her head barely touched the pillow, muttering a good night to her roommate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Okay so i have three links for you today! The first two are links to my tumblr and DA, I made a second poster for this! The last link is for the ones that want to join the official discord server!"
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/mirudoki/art/Magic-Tricks-Nightmares-2-860575266?ga_submit_new=10%3A1604826436
> 
> https://mirudoki.tumblr.com/post/634205755157905408/the-second-poster-cover-for-my-fanfiction-magic
> 
> https://discord.gg/BQfz3vHmtd
> 
> "Oh, by the way! The link won't expire. Now, toodles!"


	17. A mother's missing child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a look on the Boiling Isle gang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there!! sorry for the late chapter, today was mine and my girlfriends one month anniversary! We had a delightful celebration uvu
> 
> Updates on sundays!

Camila placed around in the throne room, Belos watching her every move. She felt nervous about the situation her daughter got in and couldn't find it in herself to sit still. Her Mija could be in so much danger and none of them would know! It's been quite some time since she's been to the Boiling Isle, but she has never heard of a mirror that traps people in it.

"Stop. Moving. _Please_. You're being ridiculous! I’m sure that your daughter is fine, and in the name of the Titan, you worry too much. That little gremlin has survived worse than this, I have heard about her from my guards."

She turned to look him dead in the eye, an aura of malice growing all around her as she stomped her feet on her way to the emperor. She gripped the handles of his throne and almost snarled at the old man.

“Listen to me now, and listen _well_ because I ain’t gonna repeat myself. You-” Camila jabbed him with her pointer finger. “-haven’t got a _clue_ on how I feel. Got it? You do _NOT_ know how it is to have a missing daughter, your very own child - that you made for _nine_ whole months - go missing! The only thing that I know is that my dear Mija is trapped in a mirror and nobody has a clue about what’s happening to her!”

Emperor Belos stiffly leaned back, sweat trailing down his temples behind his golden mask. Camila felt mad, but gathered her composure and gave him space.

“I appreciate that you’re letting me stay here for the time being, but I’d appreciate it more if you’d find my daughter; it is your fault that she’s in this situation. Right now? Right now this is a game of waiting for Eda and her sister to come back. While I have been pacing, you have been doing absolutely nothing. Mind changing that?”

She stood straight, eyes serious and overall giving of an aura that tells you that this woman won’t take a ‘no’ for an answer. She was sure that this man never actually faced anything that scared him, because he’s shaking like a leaf right now. Camila didn’t even pull her mother's tricks out! This man was a spoiled, giant baby that always got what he wanted with minimal effort. He glanced to the side and sighed.

“What do you want to know?”

The mother smiled sweetly and rested her hands on her hips.

“Tell me a bit about the Boiling Isles. It’s been… quite some time since I heard about it. You also don’t have to wear that stupid mask, Adam. Do you even take it off to breathe?”

Belos - or Adam? Who knew that he had a real name - grabbed his mask by the side of his face and took it off, leaving an old man behind. He had thin, long, white hair that cascaded over his ashy, black eyes and wrinkles all over his face and neck. Thin lips pressed against each other as he narrowed his eyes.

“Azura? I thought you left the Boiling Isle for the rest of your life, Mija. I suppose that you would do anything for your child, though.”

Camila frowned, her expression full of anger. Her feet moved before she knew; she stood in front of the old man, fist clenched and teeth bared. Her fangs were pressing on her lips and her brows were furrowed, a headache building up from the pressure and unshed tears waiting to fall.

“You do _not_ get to call me your daughter! Let’s be real, you never wanted me around! That’s why you left me in the hands of my mother and that’s why you never cared that I left. It was absolutely the right decision to leave and I’ll _never_ regret doing that. I have a beautiful daughter and even if her father died when she was barely two, he’ll always be a better father than YOU!”

She breathed heavily, tears going down her cheeks as her muscles twitched from the stress of everything. 

“You _don’t_ get to act like you missed me. You- I- I just want my daughter back, please. _Please_ , I need her. She’s the only family I have left! You can’t just- _You_ -”

The mother fell to her knees in front of the emperor, holding her face as she wept for her child. He leaned forward as her shoulders shook.

“Shh… I’ll bring her back to you. I’m sorry, Mija. I hurt you so, so much; I’ll fix this. You’ll have your daughter back, but right now I’m just glad you’re here. It’s been too long…”

Her father embraced her in a hug as she tried to get away from him, not wanting to be near him in this moment of weakness.

“You’re so selfish. Oh so, so _selfish_. You always think about you! You could do something instead of sitting around and wasting time, but you’re still here! You’re still here and never cared about anyone else but you! Eda at least went to search for answers, for a solution but you’re _useless_!”

She was hitting his back while she cried, each hit being harder than the last. Both the spell that she put on herself and the potion she regularly bought was wearing off, revealing her true colors. Her hair slowly changed from a dark brown to an aquamarine color and her ears elongated to the typical witches ears. The length of her hair remained the same.

She cut it when she first arrived on earth, to symbolize a new beginning among new people. To feel free from the person she was before, to give change a chance. For the feeling of being able to choose who she was and what she’d do. At first she wanted to be a writer, but the magic from the oracle kept slipping into her ideas, creating books that told the joint future of witches and humans instead of being something free from the shackles of her past, so she stopped and threw the book away. But her daughter had somehow gotten her hands on the book, and Camila couldn’t bring it in herself to force her daughter to throw it away once and for all.

Luz had to do that for herself, to leave the fantasies that were actually the truth behind and live a normal life without all the problems that the Boiling Isle brough. Camila squinted her eyes as she thought about everything that happened to her since she left her home. She finished a school for nurses when she was barely 19 and met a nice and friendly young man that treated her respectfully. He respected her and her boundaries and accepted her for who she was. Her husband wasn’t worried nor disgusted when she told him the truth about her and they had gotten married. They got a house in a forest near a portal to the Boiling Isle and lived together for a few years.

They had Luz, their wonderful human child. Michael loved their daughter so much, but none of them expected him to have cancer. The doctors told them that he had around a year left when they visited the hospital. 

Camila sobbed and gasped for hair when she remembered those moments. When she remembered that her husband told her that he loved both of them and that he was sorry that he couldn’t stay around to see Luz grow up.

When he closed his eyes with a teary smile and the monitor stopped beeping, she was grasping her sides as the hurt all came back, a loud scream filled with despair rang through the gigantic room.

“I can’t lose her. I can’t! I love her so much; she’s everything I have left! She’s my little sunshine, and the reason I smile and wake up everyday! I just want her to be safe, but this place always ruined everything.”

The doors creaked open and heels clicked on the floor tiles. Eda, Lilith and Amity were back. Camila remembers that they took the young witch with her both because she was close with Luz and for experience. They couldn’t see her like this, and Ad- Belos had the same thought. He grabbed his mask and quickly put it on before anyone else could see his face. She wiped her tears away with trembling hands.

Her eyes widened when the shocked gaze of the three newly arrived witches met with hers. Eda dropped the scroll that was in her hands and ran forward, kneeling right in front of her and grabbing her shoulders gently.

“A-azura… you…”

Camila looked away, tears coming back. She didn’t want to think about it before, too focused on finding her daughter instead of the witches around her. It would have been a lie if she said that she instantly recognized Edalyn.

“Hecate…”    
  


Eda was slightly crying, matching her tears. Camila looked in her eyes and saw too many feelings to name. She put a hand up and wiped them away from the face of Luz’s mentor.

“Eda, it’s been… it’s been a lot of years, since…”

She was enveloped in a hug.

“Shh… I know it’s been so long that you didn’t notice it was me. You’re Camila, am I right? I don’t think that the Azura I knew back then would’ve come back otherwise. The kid… Luz is very special to all of us. I got good news, hermosa. We found a way to possibly bring her back, or well… at least go to where she’s at.”

Camila was speechless. They actually found a way! She could see her baby again! She embraced Edalyn tighter, suddenly feeling happy that there is hope. She was sobbing and laughing at the same time. 

“You did it! Oh my god you did it! I could kiss you for this, Hecate!”

Luz’s mother let go of the hug and jumped up on her feet, reaching out for Eda to take her hand.

“What are we waiting for? Come on! Let’s go and save my daughter from this dumb mirror.”

She flashed her old friend a smile as they held hands and stood in front of each other, an invisible spell connecting them. Belos coughed to break it, and suddenly they realized that they weren’t alone. Eda led her away from the throne and grabbed the scroll with her free hand. Lilith looked at her with guilt and Amity had literal stars in her eyes. The little witch's mouth was open and she was flapping her hands excitedly. 

“Oh Titan! I can’t- Miss Noceda you’re the good witch Azura?! I’m a fan of the books! I can’t believethatI’mactuallymeetingtheauthor-”

Camila blinked slowly, the rest of the girl’s mumbling remaining unheard to her ears due to the speed. She smiled awkwardly and let Eda’s hand go, putting hers on Amity’s shoulder.

“Look, dear. You can still call me Camila, alright? What matters is not my name, but what I’m here for.” She turned to look at Eda. “Do you… know how that’ll help us save Luz?”

Edalyn nodded and held up the scroll.

“This will open a permanent portal through the mirror. We can go through and bring Luz back, then everything’s done. The only downside is that whatever is in the mirror can also get out, but this is the Boiling Isle, I doubt it can get more dangerous than this.”

The mother looked back at the girl in front of her. A serious look on her voice as she spoke, leaving no room for arguments.

“That’s probably going to be dangerous… hm. Listen, Amity. You’re Luz’s friend, I can see that in your determination to get her back. So to speak, you may even love her, but both on her and your behalf… go home. Go home and rest and stay out of this, for you and Luz. You want to be here when she gets back. We don’t know what kind of monsters will come from the mirror, so it’s best if you’re not alone by the time we do this.”

Amity looked at her with glossy eyes, but slowly nodded. Poor girl probably didn’t feel like talking a lot after hearing the seriousness in her voice. Her need to save Luz was big, but the need to stay alive for her was bigger. 

She was just a kid, she didn’t need to carry all the burden on her shoulders. Not like her when she was that age. When she fought malicious beasts and gigantic monsters to protect her loved ones or when she had to make decisions that actually affected people. Camila will take that off of the young witch’s shoulder and let her be a kid a little bit longer. 

Eda put a hand on her shoulder when Lilith accompanied Amity away. They both heard Belos stand up and follow them to the mirror, where they now stood in front of. Purple fog all around the floor and the mirror still in the middle of the room. They already planned that she and Eda would go in the mirror and get Luz back while Lilith and Belos protected the mirror from any intruders. They held up the scroll and started speaking in the ancient language of demons, bright blue letters floating from their mouth and forming a circle around the mirror.

It glowed blue and it swirled in a hypnotic aquamarine swirl, a faint light illuminating their faces as they stepped in, holding their hands for comfort.


	18. Love gives you hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eda and Camila are on their way to bring Luz back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Quick update for everyone that's not on the discord server, exam season is in full bloom so there won't be any surprise chapters anytime soon 

Blue was not a color that she expected to see when they stepped into the mirror, but the different hues and lights made Eda think of only one fitting adjective. Breathtaking. The plants were literally glowing - which blinded her at first - and the forest that stood tall in front of them were both dark and luminous. Tiny creatures hopping or crawling around, some tall and some small. Camila still held onto her hand as they took a few steps forward. The forest - or, actually the whole island - was surrounded by mirrors. Eda used her free hand to cast a spell, but then remembered that her magic didn’t work anymore.

“Uh, Camila?”

The shorter woman turned around and cutely blinked with her blue eyes at her, slightly tilting her head.

“Yes? What’s wrong, Eda?”

She bit her lip and glanced at the mirror from where they came from.

“I can’t use my magic anymore, but these mirrors look so similar to one another and I don’t really want to get lost. Could you…?”

Camila sighed and let go, making a turquoise circle in the air and a tiny will-o-wisp appeared next to the mirror. She took a few steps forward and another tiny wisp flamed up right where she stood. A small smile graced her lips and she giggled a little bit.

“This is just like when we were young. I wonder if you ever learned that spell, you used to ask me to do the same thing on almost every adventure... “

Eda rolled her eyes and grasped Camila’s hand, leading them in the forest.

“I did have to learn it after you left, but I never needed it. This does bring up the pleasant memories of our adventures though. The good witch Azura and her dearest friend Hecate, huh? I still don’t know how you came up with that name, by the way.”

A small but heartfelt laugh escaped Camila as they looked around.

“Didn’t I tell you? I swear this isn’t the first time you asked that, Eda. The emperor wanted me to know about the human side of me too, so he taught me spanish and other things like history and religions. Hecate was originally the goddess of the moon, earth and the realm of the dead, but it changed to stand for witchcraft. I thought it would fit perfectly for a secret identity on the Boiling Isle.”

They jumped over a few roots, tiny crystal-like birds flying around them. The ground was slightly moist, leaves cluttered all around the forest floor despite the trees being filled with the green and blue hues of foliage. Creatures unknown to even them filled the forest with life, and everything was peaceful as they walked.

Until it wasn’t.

A tree fell in front of them and a deafening roar rang in their ears. A beast as tall as the trees stood in front of them. Shiny, sharp claws making indents in the ground and their slim but long tail swished around, creating dust clouds. It was snarling at them as its five golden rimmed eyes glared with a fiery intensity. Their elongated snout was twitching as the fangs bared themselves, and the beast was clearly ready for a fight. Camila glanced at her and nodded. Eda stood to the side as her friend materialized her old staff from thin air. 

She was mesmerized by the elegance that Camila had when she was serious about something. Worry grew as she looked over at the beast. While she didn’t doubt that the other witch could beat it, it has been a few years since she used magic in combat. The last thing Eda would want is for Camila to get hurt, but she didn’t have magic anymore. Her eyes widened as the fight started.

Camila prepared a few spheres filled with electricity and then expanded an electric terrain all over the ground. Eda remembered that her friend specialized in electrical elemental magic - as well as healing and oracle magic - but watching her do this magic after all these years was captivating. The bolts of electricity bounced and danced all around, but stabilized as an electric blade in the hands of the witch. 

Eda could only watch, stare and gasp in wonder as Camila made platforms before the beast could even scratch her. It seemed that it didn’t do a lot of damage as the beast was still standing proudly without wincing. It jumped and smashed the ground, creating a tiny earthquake. It swiped it’s tail to remove the electricity from the ground, taking it in its tail and hitting Camila with it. Eda, with her heart racing in her chest, ran desperately as the short witch fell on the ground, standing between the monster and her friend. Seeing Cami lie there made her panic.

It was as if she was fifteen again. Like that one damned time when Belos hit Camila so hard that she fell crying on the floor. They snuck out to have fun, but even if it was a one time thing, she felt helpless at the time. Not being able to stand up for her then, she will do it now.

“Stop!”

The beast put their paws down and leaned forward. It didn’t move their mouth at all as Eda heard their words echo all around.

‘ ** _And tell me, why should I stop? You were the ones to intrude in my home and attack me when I confronted you._** ’

She gulped and closed her eyes as she regained her breath. Right now she had to acknowledge that she was weaker than the beast and talking was the only sensible option right now.

“We didn’t know that this was your home. We come from a different place, so we don’t know where we’re going. Our daughter got trapped in here and we came all this way to get her back. I apologise that we harmed you, but we were scared by your appearance and thought you would attack us first.”

It stared at Eda as she stood firmly. It then sat up straight and brought a paw at its snout.

‘ ** _I accept your apology. I can feel the truth and sincerity in your voice. I will bring you to the outskirts of the forest to make sure that you won’t come back. Your cause is to save a child of light, so I shall lend you my strength. There are far more dangerous creatures in this forest, so I advise you to not come back through the forest once you fulfilled the purpose of your visit_**.’ 

She nodded and put Camila on her back, similar to a piggyback ride. They settled on the beasts neck and held onto dear life as it began running at great speed through the tall trees, wind running. It didn’t take long before they arrived at the clearing. Farms were all around them, no city in sight. They were let down and left alone without a goodbye. 

Camila was leaning on her, eyes blinking tiredly as they walked along the fields of vegetables and fruits. Eda wished that she had her magic to carry them both. The fields were gigantic, but there was nobody in sight yet. Her feet were starting to ache, but she could endure through the pain. 

She had to continue for them and for Luz. The kid changed her life, gave it a meaning again and brought a light in her home. Eda used to cause mischief because she didn’t have anything better to do, tried to do something with selling human things even if it was mostly to get the snails to buy the potions for her curse. Wasting her magic as the years went on and on, loneliness being the thing she knew. She ran away from her sister, just like Camila ran away from the Boiling Isle. Eda was lucky that she found King, and he made things better. 

Eda was glad that Luz showed up from that door, she brought change with her. And while she was worried for the girl that she saw as her own daughter, she was also glad to have her oldest friend back. They continued to walk for who knows how long. There wasn’t an actual sun or moon, but a somewhat bright light on top of the island that got dimmer and dimmer. 

Deciding that they’ve walked enough to take a well deserved break, she gently put Camila down and sat next to her. They were next to a river, and some fruit trees, so Eda gathered a bit of both and they ate in peace. After resting for a good while, they continued to walk away from the forest. The lights in the sky were very dim now, but Camila had enough energy to make them a light spell. 

There was a comfortable silence between them, they didn’t have to talk about anything and especially not about Camila leaving. They talked about it when they were young and she can imagine what life in the human world could’ve been based on what Luz told her. Crossing another river, they started to see more and more houses. Eda noticed that the light began to get bright, which meant it was probably day now. 

Did so much time pass already?

A person saw them and waved them over, they looked like a fish with a cloud instead of feet.

“Hello visitors, can I help you?” 

Eda glanced at her friend, what would they do now? Camila smiled at the person.

“Oh hello, we’re a bit lost, actually. We’re trying to find a person here, but we don’t know where to begin! This is our first time here.”

The Lumius hummed.

“I’m going to assume that you don’t know your way around, but you can accompany my son to the trade district, it’ll be much easier to get to the business district. The Lumius there will be able to help you out since they’re the ones that keep track of who is currently here.”

Camila nodded and thanked the Lumius. All they had to do now was wait. It didn’t take that long for the son to show up with a carriage filled with goods. The son was sitting on a seat behind a quadrupedal animal that was unknown to both Eda and Camila. They got help to sit next to him and then rode to the trade district. Apparently, the ride took around an hour but Eda was glad that she didn’t have to walk anymore, even if she had to listen to the boy talk about his life. 

They got off and waved the farmer’s son goodbye, thanking him for letting them tag along. Camila was the one who asked the citizens for directions, so she made sure that nothing happened to them. Not having magic didn’t mean that she was defenceless, Luz sure was the living proof for that. 

While walking around, they noticed the change of architecture in the buildings. There were a lot of tall ones with all types of signs - they had drawings on them to show what you can exchange - in the trading districts, but now there were apartments and houses with gardens. The will-o-wisps were still following Camila, so that helped them a lot. The streets were getting more complicated, the roads splitting up in different paths. 

Lumius were floating around, but other creatures - even some humans! - were walking around and chatting. A kind lady told them the quickest way to the business district. They thanked her and jogged in that direction. 

They stopped once they arrived at a tall skyscraper. A few people were wandering around and others were floating in and out the building. A lady with long hair tapped Eda’s shoulder and grinned.

“Hello Edalyn Clawthorne and Camila Noceda! I-I was wondering where you two went. News spread around that two visitors were searching for a girl, I’m... assuming that it's Luz Noceda?”

Stunned by the straightforwardness of this person, both women nodded. The Lumius smiled gently and motioned them to follow her.

“I’m D-Dealla, head of the ‘lost visitors’ centre, in charge of guiding people that accidentally come into our world! I’m in charge of lo-looking after your daughter, miss Noceda. Since you two are now finally here - oh Deus, it must’ve been a long ride - we can find a way to bring you three back home. So…” 

She turned around as they stopped in front of a tiny hotel. 

“How did you get here?”

Eda spared Camila a glance as she furrowed her eyebrows. This was an inn, what were they doing here?

“We followed you?”

Dealla laughed and clutched her sides.

“Oh man I should’ve expected such a response! Hah- no, you misunderstood me. How did you get through the portal?”

This time Camila looked at her with a curious expression. Both of them were expecting Eda to answer.

“Ah, well me and my sister went to search for a way to open a portal with the mirror. Since we couldn’t get Luz out, then we had to get in ourselves. We found a scroll that enabled this and activated the mirror. The Emperor was keeping watch on the mirror as we made a deal.”

The Lumius hummed and opened the door, letting the two witches in. The receptionist greeted them as they approached. Dea leaned over the counter and whispered something in their ear. They nodded and gave Camila a piece of paper with a number on it.

“This is the human’s room, take care!”

Eda’s eyes widened. They were so close to her! 

They slowly went up the stairs and stood in front of room 42, anxious and excited at the same time.

Camila knocked on the wooden door with a shaky fist. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The author turned the microphone on.
> 
> "Ah hem, hello there. As you see, things are getting more complicated! As you see we're at chapter 18, but we're not finished at all. I have so many things planned for the future. I'm also making plans of making this into a series! So if you've come so far into this story, then why don't you join the official "Magic Tricks and Nightmares" discord?"
> 
> Luz snatched the miscrophone away from the authors hands.
> 
> "Okay so, this chicken probably won't explain why the server is cool, so I will! You get to see official art, chat with people that have a similar taste in wonderful shows that also aren't toxic and you get to ask questions to the author! Ever wondered if a specific character will ever show up again? Easy peasy when you can just ask the author!"
> 
> They took the microphone back and furrowed their eyebrows as they glanced at Luz with a 'are you for real now?' expression.
> 
> "Disclaimer: Fully detailed answers are not included, no refund on spoilers. Anyways the link is ' https://discord.gg/BQfz3vHmtd '. You can just copy paste that and bam you're in. Anyways, toodles!"


	19. Close, but you still missed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will there ever be an end to this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi okay I know what I said, but I was thinking... that I'm going to split this chapter in two! Because christmas. 
> 
> Updates every sunday! Make sure to check in. (Could be monday for some people, take it with a grain of salt.)

Amity woke up long before Luz. She wanted to let her crush rest for a bit longer, that's the reason why she darted from the kitchen - leaving her sandwich on the counter - to get to the door before Luz could wake up. Gently opening the door, she softly gasped as her eyes laid on Eda, Dealla and a shorter woman. Eda’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to say something, but Amity quickly stepped forward and stopped her with her hand. She shushed the older woman and gestured at Luz’s sleeping form with her eyes. 

She led them to sit at the table, the lady sitting down next to Eda and Dealla floating next to them. Eda leaned forward and started whispering.

“Kid, I thought we told you to stay on the Boiling Isle. What are you doing here?”

The young witch arched an eyebrow in confusion.

“Uh well… How do I explain this…”

Dealla shyly rolled her eyes and fidgeted with her fingers.

“It’s o-okay if you’re having a time explaining this, maybe I’ll take the part of explaining? S-so… when t-two people have a soul bond and one of them ends up here, the person splits in two and one half follows them here… This Amity is the split part of the original Amity that has been by Luz’s side ever since Luz got here.”

Amity saw Eda spare a glance at the time woman, both sighed and leaned back. The shorter green haired woman sighed.

“Will this leave any lasting consequences when we’ll bring Luz back home?”

Dea smiled and gently shook her head.

“No, this will actually be good. This Amity and the Amity on the Boiling Isle will be united once more, unifying both memories. I think it’s also good that we’re talking about this while whispering though. Luz has been going through a lot and a little rest couldn’t hurt. That was very thoughtful of you, actually.”

She crossed her arms and looked away, huffing slightly.

“Did you think that I wouldn’t take care of her? I…”

A blush creeped on her cheeks, but she wasn’t ready to actually say those words out loud. 

"She means a lot to me, no matter where we are. She’s got my back and I’ve got hers."

The three women smiled as if they just saw a cute puppy lying on its belly making cute noises, which made Amity let out a strangled whimper.

Luz groaned softly as she raised an arm to rub the tiredness out of her eyes.

"Hmm… Ammy, what's up…?" 

The dark haired girl yawned in blissful Ignorance of the previous conversation. The short woman's eyes widened slightly as tears built up in them, making them shiny.

"...Mija?"

"...Mami?" 

Amity saw as Luz suddenly sat up, completely awake and mouth agape as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

"You look different, Mami. Why did you dye your hair?"

The blue haired woman - Luz's mother? - nervously looked away. Amity glanced at Eda, who also avoided her eyes.

"I… didn't dye my hair, Mija. It's my… natural hair color." 

Luz blinked slowly, mouth parting as her confusion grew.

"...but humans aren't born with blue hair, Mami. What are you talking about? What's going on? And- how did you get here, with Eda out of all people? She- Oh Dios mío." 

If you asked Amity when it all crashed down, she could tell you the exact moment without hesitation. Luz stood up with such speed that she almost fell down, mouth open wide and eyebrows stretched in pure shock.

"YOU'RE A WITCH?! I-", Amity heard her inhale sharply as her hands flapped in pure joy. "I can't believe it! That's amazing! But why would you leave the Boiling Isle? It's such an amazing place…" 

Luz's mother sighed sadly, her expression gloomy. Eda put a hand on the short witches trembling one and looked at Amity and Luz.

"She's not an ordinary witch, kids. She's… Belos biological daughter, the rightful heir to the throne, in a way. Not that she'd take the place, we both despise the Emperor." 

The old looking witch glared a hole in the sofa, mumbling something about 'Belos being a… something big baby that should not be in power'. 

But Amity furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, something didn't quite add up to this.

"But how did you find us? I thought that the only way for us to leave was gone?"

The new topic clearly bettered the mood of the whole room, everyone visibly relaxing. Eda shot her a cheerful grin.

"We found an ancient scroll that let us enter the portal, which also means that we should go back, actually. I don't know how long it will remain open and I’m sure none of us want to test the theory that it can close if we wait long enough. Camila made a trail with her magic that we can follow back to the mirror."

Dealla raised an eyebrow at the last part. Since when…?   
  
“Sorry, but I’m confused about the last part. The mirror where I got Luz from was nearby and as far a-as I know, mirrors with similar creation numbers are also nearby. I’m also pretty sure that you’ve got quite the distance behind you, based on rumors.”

This time, Camila tilted her head in confusion.

“We… came from behind the forest? I don’t understand, Dealla. Is something wrong?”

The Lumius’ eyes widened and panic took over her body, which caused the humans around her to tense up.

“I- the mirror you were supposed to come from should be near the living district! Not behind the sacred forests where the gods reside! It’s practically a death wish if you step in there, how did you even survive?!”

Amity was holding Luz’s hand as everyone in the room gasped at this information. Luz put an arm around her and pulled her closer to her, eyebrows visibly showing her thinking.

“Then someone planned to change where the mirror would be, right? If it spawned somewhere completely different than expected - and in a very dangerous area too! - then it can’t be a coincidence!”

She saw Dea pace around, but she stopped suddenly, as if a realization hit her. The Lumius turned to her with a frantic gaze.

“Amity, you said that you remember seeing Magister Erroris? Do you remember anything else?”

Trying really hard to grasp at the memories of the other Amity, she still came out empty handed. Dea sighed as she shook her head, but Eda and Camila looked at each other with a frown. She noticed how everyone exchanged a worried look between themselves, and Camila perked up.

“Magister Erroris? That’s… that’s the Lumius that helped us get here.”

Dea was visibly sweating, a gulp shattering the devastating silence that suddenly took place in the small room. A small whisper echoed between them.

“It’s… it’s a trap. It has always been a trap, we need to get home _now_!”   
  
Luz grabbed her hand and Camila grabbed Eda’s, they started running as if their life depended on it, and if they were right? If they were right, then it does depend on it. Not only Luz and a half of her crush - maybe her lover once everything calmed down - but her parents too, would be stuck in this place without being able to see the rest of their family. Without being able to continue with their life that they gave up so much to get, they ran. Dealla led their way to avoid meeting one of the gods in the forest. Amity and everyone else was immensely grateful for their guide and her abilities to jump in space, cutting the path by a significant amount. 

A mirror was circled in tiny spirits that faded away as they got closer. Eda dragged Camila through the mirror and Amity now stood in front of Luz. A bad feeling crept up her spine, so she decided to be bold for once.

She gently cupped Luz’s cheek and leaned it for a peck on her lips. A soft whisper of an ‘ _I love you_ ’ and a promise to see her on the other side. Amity stepped through the portal and disappeared from Luz’s sight.

Luz was about to go through the portal herself when it exploded in a purple smoke. While it didn’t shatter, cracks formed on the sides and Luz was blown back with Dea. Hands crept from some shards and a toothy grin was the first thing that Luz saw.

Sharp fins and claws that contrasted with Dealla’s were connected to a dark purple body, floating just like Luz’s guide. The creature bowed down as if this was a show and Luz knew that this? 

This was Magister Erroris, a mistake in a world of wonders.

“Well, well, well! Look at what we have here… Luz Noceda, the light of the universe. It is absolutely my pleasure to meet you, my dear. Now, now. You see, you almost got away! But it wouldn’t be a fun game of cat and mouse without there being more of a challenge, would it? And now that even your soulmate is on the other side, we can have more fun!”

It was harder to see anything, smoke clouding her view from anything else, but when Luz stood up again, her surroundings were very different from the blue, glowing nature of the landscape she got stuck in.

This.. this was back to square one. Back in her human home, but this time without her Amity.

She was completely alone now.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Join the discord https://discord.gg/BQfz3vHmtd


	20. The world is not black nor white

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A different perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Since there is no way I could thematically fit a christmas chapter in the story right now, you get an extra plot chapter. So, merry christmas!
> 
> Updates every sunday!

Magister dispersed the smoke, pleased to see that Luz did in fact go back into the illusion. Their plan could fail if the child of light interfered with it. Smoke was rising once again, leaving Dealla and this world behind them once and for all. It curled up around them and the mirror, hiding them from sight.

When they passed through the portal, the smoke impaled the mirror on the other side, trapping Luz on the other side once and for all. And gave them a good boost for credibility. The impact made them fall on the cobblestone ground of the Emperor’s towers, a natural cough coming from their throat as the dust and the smoke faded away. 

A pained and teary eyed expression, which was carefully crafted to gain and deepen their trust, was put on by the trickster. Lilith and the Emperor ate it right up, but Camila and Edalyn were extremely suspicious of them. Those two knew, but that could be changed very quickly.

“Thiss… wass not ssuppossed to happen... Urgh… Iss the mirror okay?”

It was obviously not, but they had to play the clueless role for a while. The victim, in a way. Lilith was already by their side, helping them up. Edalyn narrowed her eyes at them.

“You can give up on your games, Magister. We know the truth about you.”

That made them raise an eyebrow. Now floating again, they tilted their head.

“Whatever could you mean? Did you perhapss get to have a wonderful converssation with the Lumiuss? I Asssure you, whatever they ssaid is not quite how it is. Their truth, but not mine.”

Camila gasped, for she was the first one to notice the broken shards of the mirror lying on the cold ground. The woman fell to her knees with an ugly sob and a devastating tension lingered in the room. Magister floated towards her and put their hand on her shoulder.

Everyone else was silent.

“...I’m sso ssorry for thiss… I wass checking on the other sside to ssee if everything was okay, for I had a bad feeling. The last thing I ssaw wass a monsster breaking the mirror. I-”

A shaky inhale, a glare met their eyes. Tears flowed down the mothers cheeks.

“...I hoped that your child would make it.”

Their hand was slapped away by Eda, her nails scraping their skin due to the violent attack.

“Shut up! If you think that we’re naive enough then you’ve got a big thing coming, you liar. You’ve been lying to us this whole time and don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about! They told us that you’re a liar, that you’re the reason why this happened in the first place!”

Lilith looked between her sister and themselves. Hook, line and sinker.

“Well did you think that maybe you’re too quick to judge and pick a sside, Edalyn? Maybe the other people of my kind are jusst mad that I found a way to esscape that place.To be free is my depesst dessire, you know? I had to leave everything behind to get thiss far and YOU’re not going to ruin it!”

Purple smoke started to swirl around the room, violently shaking everyone's hair and clothes. They wanted to get rid of all of them so badly, to just let this become the past, but a higher being's voice reminded her of her promise. 

‘ _Do not take a life for your freedom, Magister. That is a mistake that the strongest of magic can’t undo, so promise me that you’ll even let your enemies live and I’ll make your deepest dream come true._ ’

Gritting their teeth, they decided to separate everyone. They’re weaker when they’re alone; letting them stay in a group is dangerous. Far away, where they wouldn’t know where they are anymore. Somewhere unknown and remote, without magic… the human world! It would be easy to locate the portal and push them all in there. Then Magister could just get rid of the portal and everything would be fine!

They will be free once and for all!

“Ssay hello to the humanss for me, won’t you? Ha...haha… hahaha! Finally!”

They dispersed the smoke, leaving the room beautifully empty. The shards shone on the floor, a symbol of their freedom. Rubbing their hands, they left the tower. 

Why would they need to stay in a lousy tower if they can now have the throne? Oh the poor people, living without someone making decisions. How would they ever cope without a leader? Magister obviously had to take the place. Freedom was so sweet, they could almost taste it on their tongue.

The emperor… he was a selfish man. He forced people to restrain themselves and locked their freedom away. They can change that! Give people freedom to live as they please. Nobody will ever have to be restricted by anything anymore, not by the people, not by the government. 

Their kind was always content with being restricted. Don’t go to other universes, don’t play with life and the order of the galaxy. Everything has a reason for why it is the way it is, but if Magister was never meant to leave that island, then why were they here? Why did they get as far as they did? Of _course_ they were meant for a greater destiny.

A few universes already collapsed, but Magister was not at fault. They did observe why though.

Luz Noceda, the child of light.

That girl was the reason why the first eleven universes collapsed. Either a fierce battle between the child and the emperor caused a terrifying catalyst that ended the world or the child unlocked spells that have been hidden away for a reason. Her curiosity and lack of a sense for consequences brought the end. The only logical thing to do was to separate her from their universe.

Magister was not sure if the love that Luz and Amity shared was enough to stop Luz’s never ending curiosity for the unknown, but hopefully the time they spent alone was enough to make the girl realize Amity’s feelings for her.  Maybe the distance will help their bond, hopefully grounding Luz. Magister knew that they were seen as the bad guy, the villain in this. But the others did not see the bigger picture, nobody except Magister knew. But this is all for the safety of this universe. 

They tapped their nails on the throne and inhaled slowly. Sometimes it was hard to get their head wrapped around this, but it was fine. A woman entered, surprised at their presence.

“...What have you done with the emperor, Magister Erroris?”

They side eyed her and grinned.

“Just sent him home. It’s good for his health anyways, right? Don’t worry, nobody was hurt.”

The woman neared the throne with her arms crossed.

“We don’t have a ruler anymore.”

A hearty laugh resonated through the enormous room.

“Oh dear. I’m the new ruler. Don’t worry, I’ll make a few tiny changes, nothing too drastic. It had to be done, you know? All for the bigger picture.”

She did obviously not get the bigger picture, but nodded anyways. _Smart_.

“Well, what can I do to assist you, your majesty?”

They hummed absentmindedly. 

“Make a law that lets people study whatever magic they want to. I despise the way that every potential is locked away with a seal.”

She was already walking away, not even expecting more to come, but oh well. Magister was full of surprises.

“Oh, and ‘wild witches’ are not criminals anymore. It would be like saying that your grandparents were criminals for using the traditional way of performing magic. Criminals are the people that do serious things like hurting other people or dare I say, arson. Don’t think that I’m not aware of the poor people imprisoned by the warden just because they enjoy being themselves.”

That made her stop for a second. She continued walking after a tiny ‘ _Yes, your majesty._ ’ was uttered from her lips.

Magister sighed and leaned back on the throne.

Maybe, just maybe they longed for someone else who also understood. But… after everything was said and done, they would be painted as a villain in the history that will come one day after their defeat. They dreaded that day, but expected it. Things were bound to happen, one way or another.

Ah, the painful life of an oracle…

Born to live, live to know.

The future was unpredictable for anyone else but them.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Hey there, merry christmas! If you're reading this, it means that you like the story! And if you like it, then surely you'll like the discord server too! So why not join with this link? https://discord.gg/BQfz3vHmtd "


	21. The beginning of the end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gus has a heart to heart with his dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hiatus is over! Im hella busy studying, but I think I can afford to update every sunday now. Enjoy this chapter! Oh and if you have any questions that could possibly be plot holes or wishes for a character to appear, just comment. 
> 
> Updates every sunday! (Officially off hiatus, wohoo!)

Augustus was washing the dishes with his father when the news came on the crystal ball. Magister - if he remembered correctly - was standing right in the middle of the screen, asking for every citizen's attention. A woman stood beside them, holding a microphone.

“Hello citizens of Bonesborough, today we’re here with unexpected news. Emperor Belos disappeared due to unknown reasons. This is our new ruler for the time being, Magister Erroris. Your majesty?”

He watched as the lady stepped aside as she gave Magister the microphone.

“Do not fret, people of the Boiling Issle. This wass meant to happen, for it wass written in the sstars above. Beloss hass done what the Titan wanted to happen and now it is time to look forward. The one before me hass guided you to the sstart of a better future and now I will continue that path. I’m afraid that I need to change one thing though.”

Magister moved their finger, signaling the microphone closer. Then a whisper…

“The children of thiss land sshall have the freedom to choosse what kind of magic they want to masster. If a child wantss to learn the magic of illusionss and the magic of potionss, then you sshall let them.”

Gus’ eyebrows formed a pensive frown on his face. This situation was oddly suspicious. Magister leaned back with a grin and waved excitedly.

“Well thank you for lisstening! I look forward to ssee the development planned by the Titan. Have a wonderful evening, everybody.”

The news cut off and his father looked at him with a neutral expression on his face. They continued in an awkward silence as the both of them processed this news.

“...Hey, Gus? You know that you can tell me anything, right?”

The young teen put his lips in a thin line as he scrubbed a plate.

“...Yeah. Why are you asking?”

A sigh.

“It’s just… I feel like we don’t really talk with each other about our day, you know? You used to tell me all about your classes, but it’s been different lately. Maybe I should’ve paid more attention to you?”

Augustus shook his head and put a hand on his father’s shoulder.

“I didn’t really… Sorry, dad. I’ve been… hanging out with my friends more, I’m sure you noticed?”

His father set the cup he was washing down with a pensive look on his face.

“I feel like you’re hiding something from me, Gus. And- I don’t know if it’s something dangerous. I’m worried about you, son. I know it’s always been you and me, but I’m scared that you got yourself into something bigger that could harm you. You’ve been going out and only came home at the later hours of the day...”

He looked away.

“Do you really need to know?”

A nod. They both set the dishes down and walked to the dining table. The air was serious, unlike how it normally was.

“My friend, Luz. She’s… she was taken by Belos without reason. She didn’t do anything, but was still sealed away in a mirror. Me and… Me and Willow wanted to get her back. She stood up to Boscha and really helped Willow’s confidence! She’s a true friend, dad. We just wanted to help her since she helped us all the time.”

The grown man stared at him, really seeing through him for the first time in days. They sat in silence as he sighed. Perry’s gaze softened and he put his hands over his.

“Oh, Gus… You’ve been trying to get your friend back… It must be a really awful situation, you’ve been in a better mood ever since you’ve made more friends at school, I can’t even imagine how it would feel to be in such a situation.”

His father stood up and crouched in front of him, hugging Gus tightly.

“It’s not your fault that all of this happened, son. It’s not your friends fault either, okay? It’s…”

They drew back from the hug.

“It’s not something you could’ve prevented, I think. But it is really noble of you to try and help her, I’m proud to be your father, Gus. I need you to know that. Your mother would be very proud of you too, if she were here.”

A tear fell from the young teen’s eye, feelings all mixed up. He was sad and happy at the same time. His father wiped his tears away, so he hugged him tight, hoping that his father would understand.

“I won’t stop you Gus, but please be careful out there. The Boiling Isle is a dangerous place and you’re still a child. I’ll try to help you out in the best way that I can while keeping you safe, so I’d like to know where you are in case something happens.”

He nodded, relief washing over him. His father understood, that was enough.

“I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, actually. Eda the Owl Lady, Luz’s mother, Miss Lilith and E… wait…”

The adult was gazing at him with a worried expression, wondering what stopped him from continuing his sentence. On the news, Magister said that Emperor Belos retired, which means something happened to the plan.

“...Dad?”

“Yes, Gus?”

Fear was prominent in his eyes, as a shiver ran down his spine. A bad feeling.

“Emperor Belos- or well- Ex-emperor Belos and Lilith were supposed to watch over the mirror that Luz was trapped in, while Eda and Luz’s mom were supposed to get her back, but if Belos disappeared…”

His father seemed to connect the dots fairly quickly. Standing up, he reached for his scroll and wrote a message to Willow.

“Dad, I need to talk with Willow and Amity, they’re the only ones who also know about this. If Belos is gone, then Lilith- maybe even _Eda_ and _Luz’s mom_ are gone too! All the adults involved in this disappeared and that’s really concerning!”

He was pacing around as he waited for any of those two to answer his messages. 

“That also means that they could be in danger-”

Gus stopped pacing around, opting to stand there with his eyes wide and mouth open.

“Magister Erroris knew about this. They helped us get everything ready and gave us the information we needed. T-this is part of their plan! Oh my Titan, what even-”

Two big hands rested on his shoulders, grounding him.

“Gus, take a deep breath. Hold it in, exhale. We’re gonna get through this, okay champ? We’ll get your friend back and everything is gonna be fine again, okay? Look at me, son.”

He did as his father said, calming down a bit.

“I called Willow’s parents, they’re going to come here with her and we’re going to make sense of this. We’ll try our best to solve this together, okay Gus?”

Slowly nodding, he sat down on the couch with his parent. They waited a little bit until a knock disturbed the silence in their home. His dad opened the door and Willow, along with her parents, came in. She was clearly worried. Knowing what they did, who wouldn’t be?

“We came as soon as we could, Perry. Willow told us what’s going on on the way here. Is there any way we can help?”

Willows sat down next to him.

“...What do we do now? I don’t think that we can waltz back into the tower and check the situation for ourselves and the adults that were involved also seem to be out of limit…”

Both of them sighed.

“We just wanted to get Luz back, so why did this get so complicated? It was so simple! Go in the mirror, get Luz back, get out of the mirror and bam!”

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Willow gently pat him on the shoulder, looking really tired.

“Do you think we can just talk about this with Magister? It seems to be part of something bigger. If you ask me, this feels like they just wanted to get rid of Luz.”

Gus tilted his head, a soft huh unconsciously escaping his lips.

“Where did you get that idea from?”

“Magister seemed a little bit too willing to help us _and_ they were there for everything involved with Luz. Also Belos, Lilith, Eda and Camila are all gone, so why isn’t Magister also gone? They were supposed to protect each other and the mirror, so it’s obvious that Magister is the one that made them disappear!”

The adults stared at Willow, cogs turning in their heads. They may have recently gotten light of the situation, but her explanation made too much sense for it to be a coincidence. Gus looked to the side, brows furrowing.

“And you think that Magister would let us walk in and talk to them?”

She nodded confidently.

“If they wanted to get rid of us, they would’ve done so already.”

He brought a hand to his chin and nodded slowly.

“True…”

His father and Willow’s parents glanced at each other, seemingly both proud, terrified and impressed by their children's quick thinking. Said children both stood up abruptly, grinning widely.

“Then that’s the plan!”

They flashed a thumbs up and the adults just hoped that everything would go fine at least this once. It was very improbable that Gus and Willow would give up for something that mattered so much to them.

After preparing themselves to be ready to go on this small journey, their parents accompanied them out of the house and on the way to the lion's den.

Everything could go wrong, but if the Titan could hear them, then he’d pray that he’d have luck at least this once.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The author steps forth, microphone in hand.
> 
> "Hello dear readers, it's been a while. But it shall not be an issue anymore, for I have now a little bit more time."
> 
> They turned around, suddenly with sunglasses on.
> 
> "So maaaybe you want to join the official discord server? Just so you get to socialize a bit, and you could get updates on the story as well! Doesn't that sound good? Well have a nice day, thank you for reading and until next week! Toodles!"


	22. [Announcement]

injury on my right arm, cant write with it. next chapter comes when it's healed


End file.
